Love Hina: Deserted
by BinaryGeek
Summary: Keitaro is on the streets after being betrayed. Can Shinobu help him, and what has happened to her over the intervening time?
1. Down and out

Love Hina: Deserted

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OK, I started writing a FanFiction ages (almost two years) ago, and never got around to writing any more than two chapters. After stumbling upon it again, and feeling guilty after seeing comments requesting more, I decided to re-write it, this time making sure that it will not die. My writing should have improved, which is a bonus!

This time I am hoping to have a lot more detail, and overall a better story. I hope you enjoy it. If you do, please comment, constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the sun, so please help me out!

This is set many years after the Ending of Love Hina Again, This doesn't follow the manga so they are not married, I have read, and do prefer, the manga but it's better for me to follow the anime here.

Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here.

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Chapter 1:

Down and out...

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It was cold and wet. The sky was grey and thunder could be distantly heard. Animals of all shapes and sizes moved to cover. Humans were no exception, with people rushing to get to the warmth of their homes. One man was huddled in the corner of a small path, near a small park, against some iron bars near where a statue rose out of the ground. This provided shelter from one direction at least, even if the railings dug into his back, and left long rusty streaks on his, already dirty, shirt. He had stubble covering his face, and a small hat, making his entire face dark, he pulled an old and scratchy green woollen blanket further over himself and tried to position his waterproof jacket so as little as possible of the blanket, and him, were exposed to the rain. These things were all he had.

Shinobu rushed along, wanting to get out of the rain. She had her umbrella – but unfortunately the wind blew the rain near-horizontally – so she got wet anyway. She didn't pause at the park, but still looked at the swings, reminiscing slightly. Soon she stumbled out and turned the corner, and, to her surprise, seeing a tramp – at first she was instinctively scared, pulling away slightly, then she saw a little cat rush under the cover of the tramp's blanket – she subconsciously expected him to kick it, and was surprised when he covered it more, and gave it something small to eat. Shinobu then felt slightly ashamed, she was heading to a warm – not to mention brand new – home, and this man was living like this, and she had simply been scared – presuming him to be a bad person. When had she lost faith in humanity? She reached in to her pocket and discreetly took out her purse, taking out a bit of money, and walked forward, tapping the man on the shoulder and putting out her hand with the money in. Maybe she could give someone else some faith in it.

The man was sat as he had been, finally a bit more comfortable in a good position against the bars, when he noticed a small cat tentatively coming towards him. He ushered it in, closing the blanket on it more, laughing a little when it shook to try and get dry, then gave it a little food. He sat back, thinking of the irony of him helping something in the same position as him, even though he couldn't help himself. He was slightly shocked when someone tapped him on the shoulder, and turned to see who it was. As he turned he saw the glint of money and started to speak. "Thank You, but don't worry, I can manage.", then stopped in shock as he saw who stood before him.

Shinobu was surprised when she heard that voice... It meant something to her, she just couldn't pinpoint it. She heard him say "Don't worry, I can manage", and it sounded as if he was going to continue, but he didn't, so she turned to walk off, dropping the money into his lap – she was giving him the money – didn't he know it was rude to refuse it?

"Shinobu?"

He saw her turn on this. It was her. "Shinobu Maehara?"

Shinobu turned swiftly in shock, her skirt flapping out, her hair in tandem with it, staring at him. She did know that voice...

"Sempai?"

"Urashima-Sempai!"

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OK, I'm taking a slightly different tack this time, which is pretty obvious considering it's twice as long as the last first chapter, and yet ends at halfway through it :P

I might make the following chapters longer, but I felt for dramatic reasons this was a good point at which to cut.

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Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed this, we writers live for it :P


	2. Times have changed

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Love Hina: Deserted

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I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment, constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the sun, so please help me out!

Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here.

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Chapter 2:

Times have changed...

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"Urashima-Sempai!"

Keitaro stared in shock, he was surprised to see her again, after so long, he had simply lost hope.

"Why... How... Wait... that can come later, come with me!" Shinobu said, in shock at what she was seeing.

Keitaro hardly knew what was happening, Shinobu took his blanket and jacket, rolled them up quickly, moving her arms around each other tightly, weaving them into a cylinder, then handed him her umbrella, and pushed him along. His first thought was for the cat, but Shinobu had picked him up and stuck him on top of the blanket. pulling it up a bit as to keep him dry. She bustled him along, commenting on his state, while making sure to head him in the right direction. their target appeared to be a small tea shop.

Shinobu hastily picked up Keitaro's things, making sure she didn't throw the cat away in the process, she then pulled him along to the small tea shop down the road. She had to get him warm – she was shocked he didn't have frostbite or something. She hustled him in, pushed his things under the table at the back of the shop and ordered some tea, she then sat down, and turned to him.

Keitaro was shocked. It was Shinobu, but she now has an air of authority, Shinobu was always a good cook, and always had an almost motherly way, but now she just seemed so much more in control. Things had changed. He suddenly felt heat, and testingly clenched and unclenched his fingers. It felt good to be warm again, and he realised, finally, that he was inside the tea shop, as he smelt the aroma wafting around. It was heavenly. The shop was small, but warm and probably the best place he could possibly think of after being a tramp for so long. He felt a slight pressure on his shoulder, and he gave way to it, realising it was Shinobu trying to get him to sit. He then sat there for a while, collecting his thoughts, until a warm cup was pressed into his hand and he looked up, seeing Shinobu turn to him.

"Senpai..." she started, until she heard a small, half hearted snort.

"I'm not sure if I quite deserve being called that right now, Shinobu-chan..." he said, in an almost dreamlike way, he was obviously very distressed. Shinobu pulled his hand towards her, and cuped it in hers, and this seemed to have an effect. His eyes unglazed, and he seemed to pay more attention.

"Senpai." she began firmly, denying him the chance to protest it again. "Why are you... like this?" Keitaro sighed, rubbing the sides of his nose, and wiping his eyes at the same time, he looked towards her.

"I've been living on the streets for around 4 months now. It's hard to talk about it..." He said, straining. Shinobu slowly squeezed his hand in a silent consoling movement, and he continued, "... Naru... was... well..." he mumbled a little and then finally chose his words. "She got into trouble. A big mess. It's painful. But she blamed the entire even upon me. I was kicked out, disowned by my parents, hated by my friends, and I was out of touch with you guys... I had no one to go to. I went to try and get my things, and she had taken it. She had sold everything or destroyed it. Hinata House included. It was in a joint contract, and she managed..." he cut off again, tears forming slowly, then falling with grace down his face, leaving streaks in the accumulated dirt.

"Naru..." Shinbou was shocked, she couldn't comprehend it. "I wondered why you had sold Hinata House... I was going to try and get in contact with you by it, and I went there to find it bulldozed..."

"I can't believe she did it... All of our memories... Was her ambition worth more than that?" he said hysterically, raising some looks from around the shop, calming down, he looked at her, "What... How are you?", he asked, as if he really wanted to hear something better.

"Well, there is a story..." said Shinobu, smiling a little. "I became a receptionist at a large company who produce stationary... I worked hard, and I was the owner's receptionist... He told me I was like a daughter to him, and that I helped so much – I helped him at home a bit too... and he had never been married... Well, he died about a year back... and he left everything to me in his will... It was a big shock, and lots of people were telling me to sell the company, but I decided to run it myself, and we are doing pretty well." she said, then giggled slightly, "It sounds pretty amazing, but the point is that I saw Hinata House... and I bought the land, rebuilt it, and I now live there. I was planning on renting it out to new employees of the company, but as you are here... would you like to live there? You don't have to pay rent."

"Shinobu..." Keitaro said, shocked. He sat there for a moment, processing the information, and then he simple cried onto the table in happiness, and let Shinobu take him out of the shop.

It was back to Hinata House.

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Please comment on the whole overlapping points of veiw thing. I think it allows me to show the character of the characters without going first person, but what do you think?

I'm liking the way this is turning out. I'll probably continue to do this – multiple shorter chapters, rather than a few large ones. This means faster updates, and more flexibility, or at least, I think so.

ALERT: Spoiler about pairing below!

If it isn't obvious, I am doing a ShinbouXKeitaro FanFiction. Why? Because Shinobu is the best. Character. Ever. I love her. Sorry, but that's one thing I'm not changing :P

That's it!

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Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed this, we writers live for it :P

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	3. A new day

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Love Hina: Deserted

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I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment, constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the sun, so please help me out!

Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here.

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Chapter :

A new day...

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Keitaro and Shinobu sped inside quickly, but Keitaro held back at the door, then walked back, looking over the building. Small tears welled in the edges of his eyes and ran down his cheeks.

"It's beautiful... really, honestly..." he said chokingly. Shinbou smiled and pulled him inside, it was just as he remembered it. She sat him down quickly and pulled a new blanket over him, then bought him some food.

Keitaro, at this point, almost died with pure joy. He had been living on all but bread crusts for four months. He was starving, famished, unable to control his hunger – and after that, to be presented with Shinobu's cooking... He cried and ate at once. Singing out his praise around the odd mouthful.

Shinobu blushed and smiled at this, and sat down beside him, with some hot tea. She also had an uncooked fish on a plate, with nothing on it.

"Minimalist Sushi?" Keitaro asked playfully. Shinobu looked at him blankly, until she got the joke, then showed him what was in her arms, in his old blanket – the small cat that had been there.

"Ah. Neko-san." Keitaro said, smiling, and watched as Shinobu put the cat down next to the fish. The cat was obviously as hungry as Keitaro, and devoured the fish. They both watched it, as it did so, and then curled up, purring contently.

"Neko-san? We can't call it that, Shinobu said, pouting. "Yuki-chan." she stated.

"We found it in the rain, not the snow", Keitaro said, playfully. Shinobu stuck out her tounge at this and said "Well, I think he is lucky, so it suits." then rushed him to his bed upstairs, providing him with an old t-shirt and some shorts she had that he could just about wear and not look like a girl in.

"You are much more confident now" Keitaro stated, smiling, "That's a compliment, by the way" he said, misinterpreting Shinobu's blush to be anger.

The next morning he woke to find a note saying Shinobu had gone off to work, and that he should get washed and dressed and the like. He found some clothes she had bought, along with a razor, brush, toothpaste & brush, and other generic items he would need. Keitaro gratefully took the items and went to the bath – one advantage was that there was no one else there, so he could safely go to the baths without being beaten. To his surprise, he found Shinobu had sectioned them off, with a male area. He considered this in contrast with his old barrel and laughed a little then got washed, shaved, dressed, and overall presentable. He then mooched around, watched TV, and wondered at the sudden change in his situation.

Shinobu got back around midday, and greeted Keitaro.

"I took some time off, I'm not really needed there all that much anyway, I can just pay others to do a little more time, and it's fine" she said – trying to assure him she was not going out of her way. "Anyway, I was telling you before about how I was trying to get into contact with you, well, you and Naru..." she paused a little as he flinched upon hearing her name "... were the last ones. I managed to talk to everyone else, and they can all make time to get back here. Su is already here – she was out last night getting things from her place, but she should be back any time now..."

They spent a couple of hours reminiscing and talking about what had happened in the time the group had been apart – what they knew of how the others were doing, and the like. Keitaro noticed how much Shinobu had changed, it was all subtle, but it was a big change when summed up. She was sat down now, smiling and talking, her hair was slightly longer than it had been, now closer to shoulder length, she was also a lot taller now, and her other assets... well, lets say Keitaro noticed those a lot. Shinobu was no longer just a cute girl, but a beautiful woman. Keitaro found himself fighting the urges he had towards her now, remembering her as a girl still. He soon had a devil – angel fight inside his head as to whether it was right to be attracted to her. Keitaro shook his head and tried to rid himself of the thoughts – he could think about it later.

Shinobu noticed Keitaro staring at her and blushed a little, hoping he would finally recognise her as a woman and not just a girl. She longed for him to notice her, and now that Naru had left him for good... being older, maybe Shinobu could have a chance. She smiled lightly, then quickly realised they had both been silent for about two minutes. She blushed slightly.

"Senpai... would you like to have a look around, I can show you around, and then the food should be ready..." Shinobu asked, standing up.

"Sure, I'd love to." Keitaro responded, happy to look around Hinata House – it was a place of memories – some good, some bad, but all of them fond to his heart. There seemed to be a connection to Naru with everything, but Keitaro just pushed it aside.

About half way through the tour, There was the sound of the doors opening.

"Su!" Shinobu shouted down. "Is that you?"

They both ran back down to see her.

Keitaro was surprised when he saw Su. She had run over and started to take a look at Yuki, exclaiming with joy, and brining out Tama to meet him. Fortunatly neither tried to eat the other – then again, Keitaro reminding himself, Su and Tama had stayed friends...

Su was wearing some casual clothes, which still managed to define her curves. She looked more like her sister than ever, but obviously still had way too much energy. Upon seeing Keitaro and Shinobu she dashed to the base of the stairs and jumped up the other half, shouting "Keitaro!", and landing on him. Under this, Keitaro fell sideways, over the banister, onto the floor head-first, leaving an imprint of his face in the floor. Su had, of course, managed to jump off him at the right time, and was now greeting Shinobu, in a much more painless method, namely, talking.

Shinbou ran down the stairs and shook him a little. "Senpai... Senpai! Wake up!" Su looked over the banister and said "Oops..." then giggled and jumped over the edge of the banisters, landing almost without a sound, and proceeded to poke Keitaro.

Keitaro woke up and moved his neck around in circles, it clicking multiple times. He then got up and said "Times don't change that much... do they...", while grinning – although wincing a little each time his neck clicked.

Shinobu's heart started beating again, and she scolded Su a little, then made a small prayer thanking God for Keitaro's invincibility holding up. She then led the two through to the kitchen, where she started to serve the food.

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Quick Side Note: Yuki can mean both Snow and Luck, hence the conversation about the name, if you didn't understand that one.

OK, well I think I have now finished rewriting what was Chapter one, and I think I might scrap what was Chapter 2 and change the way the story progresses.

SypothSithicus:

Thanks for the comment. Yeah, I kinda stopped coming here for ages myself, and then just came back and decided to try and rewrite this. Yeah, re-reading my old story is kind of painful really, It think the speaking just didn't carry enough of the character's character over. Nice to know I have improved.

Zhou-Mak:

Thank you. I'll try to keep it up :P

Jakinbandw:

Indeed. There are not enough ShinKei stories out there. Thanks for the comment.

I should be updating again soon. Considering what time it is now, I might even start it off with a Christmas chapter soon... we shall see.

On a side note, I'm still half-half as to whether Naru will ever star in this one... I think I might introduce her right at the end as a final story arc, maybe. We shall see.

I've also realised I just managed to add in my own character – Yuki, without realising it – fortunately a cat rather than a human.

Anyway, enough thought spilling. I won't make the mistake of last time where I said I will update to a schedule, I just cannot keep to that, so I'll update when I can. I've done a lot of updates very quickly so far, but it will slow down – don't worry, I'll continue.

Hope you enjoyed it, see you next time!

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Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed this, we writers live for it :P

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	4. The calm before

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Love Hina: Deserted

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I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment, constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the sun, so please help me out!

Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here.

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Chapter 4:

The calm before...

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Shinobu slowly climbed up the roof, she was doing something not all that sensible in a very sensible manner. She carefully placed each foot down, and tested it with increasing pressure until she was sure she wouldn't slip when she put weight on it. Then she did so and moved on. She progressed slowly, until she reached the top, and then carefully walked along until she stood on the ledge, arms stretched out, feeling the snow land on her, and admiring the view of the entire area covered in snow, a light sprinkling which was almost untouched – unsurprising at six in the morning. She looked as far as she could, until the snow blurred everything beyond recognition, and then smiled softly. She was truly happy. Truthfully without everyone she had been bored and lacked energy – before she had wanted to impress Keitaro – but when he wasn't there she had less reason to try. Now everyone was coming back.. well, everyone that deserved to come, she told herself, and more importantly – she had a chance to make Keitaro hers. She had a Christmas party planned, and everyone would be there. It would be fun, and she was truly, truly happy.

Keitaro had come up to the roof at six in the morning, not really all to sure why. He'd simply woke up, seen it snowing and had to go and see it from a good vantage point. Wondering at how beautiful it was, he looked up and saw something far more beautiful. Shinobu was stood up at the top, she wore a simple skirt and t-shirt, her clothing all pale colours, and her hair blew around her head, flowing. Her cheeks were blushed in the cold, a stark contrast to the pale colours of her clothes, and the white snow all around her. Keitaro could see her eyes clearly, and how happy she looked. He simply stood in shock, soaking in the moment, she was stood with her arms out, legs together, balancing on the roof. Angelic. Keitaro could have stood there for a millisecond or for hours – he couldn't tell.

Then the moment was over, Shinobu looked down and saw him, she swayed a little, like a leaf hanging onto a tree in the wind.

Then fell.

Keitaro ran, with all speed he could muster, time slowed, he jumped, and he pushed into her body, and forced them both into the roof. Unfortunately, the roof was still icy, so they both slid down like stones, he pushed his legs out, propelling them off the roof and they landed, crashing into the bars there for the laundry.

Keitaro laid there for a moment, shocked. His back hurt a lot, but no major injuries he could tell of. He wiggled his limbs and sighed, relaxing. Then every muscle in his body went rigid, Shinobu! He looked around, and saw her, about a meter away, shaken, a few minor cuts, but nothing serious he could see, he got up and went over.

"Are you OK? Shinobu-chan!" he said, shaking her slightly, her eyes glazed over. Shinobu eventually seemed to waken, then fell into his chest, sobbing. Apologising around her tears. He held her head to his chest and stroked her hair, rocking her slightly, until she fell asleep, then carried her to her room.

Shinobu woke up later, at around midday – looking around her, she quickly got up and ran downstairs, her heart beating wildly – calming down only when she saw Keitaro drinking tea at the table. He looked up and smiled at her.

"Shinobu-chan! You woke up, I'll get you some tea." he said kindly, and walked off to do so. She sat down shakily and looked at her watch, it was 12:37

"Senpai! I've only got 4 more hours! It was going to take at least 8!" she said, shocked, and stood up with a jolt, knocking over her chair.

"Don't worry, Su told me you were planning to have a party, so we took the liberty of decorating as much as we could." he said, "we just haven't done this room or the hall yet."

"Kaolla-chan! You told him that..." Shinobu began, upset.

"No! Just about the party, not... that..." Su said from behind Keitaro, sticking her tongue out. Keitaro, after seeing Shinobu's reaction, decided not to enquire as to what 'that' was.

Shinobu looked around, and was happy to see a lot of the decorations ready. She had planned on doing grand things, but she could scale back a bit, they still had enough time. She happily started to decorate, thanking God that she only needed to start cooking at around two, so she would have food ready. She needed to hang some tinsel up over the door, but couldn't reach, she went and got a small ladder, then asked Keitaro to hold it still, knowing Su would be unable to stand still for longer than two seconds.

Keitaro walked over, and while holding the ladder still as Shinobu climbed up, couldn't help but look up - getting a glance of her underwear. He quickly looked back down, grabbing a tissue from his pocket to stem a nosebleed, thanking God that neither Shinobu nor Su seemed to notice.

Shinobu noticed him look up and blushed heavily, almost dropping the tinsel she was holding, but she composed herself, reminding herself that it was what she wanted, and then climbed down, thanking him, hoping she wouldn't notice her blush, then walked off to the kitchen to start cooking, halfway there she turned around to ask Su to do something, and was happy when she saw him still staring at her. At this she walked into the kitchen, beaming widely, glad that he was noticing her.

Keitaro excused himself to go to his room to get something, and then thought over how he was thinking of Shinobu. She was still a cute girl, but now instead of sister-cute, it was sexy-cute. Keitaro struggled to comprehend this, and then drifted back to the view he got before, and then to earlier, in the morning, when he had held her with her pressed against his body. Her breasts had increased in size, by quite a large amount. He shook his head, and tried to pull himself together, he grabbed a snowman he had laying around, and ran downstairs, placing it somewhere in a corner, then went to see if he could help Shinobu in the kitchen.

Shinobu put him to work cutting things up, mixing things – general tasks where he couldn't get it wrong – she didn't say it – or, he doubted, even think it, but it was something he noticed, and wondered at how much she had changed – not just physically – although he was reminded of it often enough in the very thin kitchen, as she pressed up against him to get by, or leant over him to show him how thin the cucumber had to be cut, but rather how much she had changed in character – she was still a lovely girl, but she could now control things well, she had very good organisational skills, and was generally excellent at getting things done. Keitaro had always respected her as a cook, and respected her as a kind person, but a new form of respect was forming – he saw her as an amazing woman.

Halfway through preparing the food, the doorbell rang, and Shinobu froze for an instant, then whipped off her apron, hanging it up, and asked him to come with her. Keitaro wondered why he was needed to see who it was, but put it down to Shinobu being scared of robbers or suchlike.

Shinobu opened the door, and Keitaro looked out casually, then started.

"M... Motoko-chan! Is that you!" he said, looking at her. Much like Su, Motoko looked more and more like her sister now, her hair slightly longer, dressed in her normal garb, smiling a little. Her hair blew sideways in the wind, and snow landed delicately on her.

"Keitaro-san, It's been a long time. Su-chan, Shinobu-chan." she said, stepping inside. Keitaro simply stepped back in shock.

"This is... that?" he asked Shinobu and Su, Shinobu nodded while Su happily responded with "Yup, Motoko-chan is the Surprise!" and proceeded to hang around her neck, which she seemed to mind very little.

Shinobu rushed back to the cooking, before something boiled over, and Motoko and Keitaro sat down to catch up, they did this at the table, Motoko stroking Yuki, so Shinobu could hear and chip in every now-and-then. Su 'helped' Shinobu.

They then sat down and started to eat, talking and generally being leisurely about it all.

"Well, I managed to get a break from the dojo, so I can stay here for as long as I want, as long as I stay in practise and study, to a reasonable extent." Motoko stated, hovering over her food, deciding what to eat next. "Only your cooking, Shinobu-chan..." she complimented, finally making her decision.

"Well, this isn't the actual party, I've managed to talk to Kitsune and Mutsumi, they will be coming soon, and then we will have the party proper." Shinobu stated.

After eating, they all headed out to the hot springs – Keitaro in his designated section, of course – and proceeded to talk in there. Keitaro mainly just listening to the other three talk. It was relaxing, and he almost fell asleep, until Su splashed him with water over the separating barrier. Keitaro splashed back, and eventually it turned into a small war – Keitaro fighting bravely despite being greatly outnumbered. Unfortunately Su ran into the barrier at full speed, trying to dodge a bucket-load of water Keitaro had thrown over, and knocked the barrier cleanly over. Motoko jumped for a towell, Shinobu sank deep into the water, and Su stood there. The girls all sweat dropped as they saw Keitaro. He had been forced back by the small tidal wave caused by the barrier falling, and was knocked out on the side, floating in the water with his eyes crossed. Shinobu ran over, and shook him to wake up, then, as he started to, realised she was still naked, and nearly suffocated him pushing a towel over his face.

Keitaro sat on the sofa, Shinobu apologising and blushing profusely.

"Don't worry, Shinou-chan. I'm still alive, that's what counts – I'll spend some time tomorrow fixing that barrier." Keitaro assured her, "Why don't we get to bed – it's been... eventful."

They all went off, thinking about what had happened and what would happen in the future.

Keitaro has seen Shinobu nude, although his vision was still very blurred at the time, so it was like looking through fogged glass – it was still not a view he would forget any-time soon. She really had grown up – he thought as he laid in bed, he shook the thoughts from his head and turned over to try and get to sleep, he had a lot to think about. Motoko looked so beautiful now... in fact, he realised, now that... now that he was no longer attached, he could pursue the girls if he wanted, couldn't he? No, it was too soon, too painful. Maybe later – and he doubted either Shinobu or Motoko had any interest in him in that way, anyway.

Shinobu at down on her bed and started to undress, and wondered how much Keitaro had seen – and how much he wanted him to have seen. She blushed at the thought, then looked at herself in the mirror. "Motoko is so much prettier than me..." she mused, then sighed. Maybe she should have kept him for herself she thought, then pushed that thought away, that would have been selfish – and Keitaro was so happy when he saw Motoko... Too happy? She sighed once again and laid down, slowly drifting to sleep.

Motoko thought about what had happened to Keitaro, and what that meant for her, should she try and get him? She had considered it before, and with Naru no longer there... She sighed. It was too soon, and she needed to see how she felt. She fell asleep quickly.

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Done! This one is a bit longer, I like the way it turned out.

Vilcath:

Thanks for the detailed responce. Yes, the old story was shockingly bad, I wince as I read it now :P I tried to increase the length of this chapter, and I will probably continue to do so, this one amounts to around 2000 words, (minus all of this stuff) so it's pretty long. I'll probably have the other tenants trying to get Keitaro – but I won't make it a really huge part of the story. I want to keep it focused on Keitaro and Shinobu. For them to be dating other people, that means inventing characters – which I'm not a fan of doing – and I wouldn't anyway. The other characters will proably just remain as plot devices really, just build arcs around them, etc... As to what Naru did, I have an idea... We will see, no:P

ZhouMak:

Thanks for taking the time to give me feedback – I hope I can improve the story because of it. I've tried to make the chapters longer, as I have said in response to Vilcath. I hope that suits you better, although I might make the next ones even longer... As to the 'War For Keitaro' – it'll probably be more of a 'continuous-backstabbing while trying to win Keitaro over' kinda thing. Maybe... I am trying to make the development of the characters, and the way they interact a natural progression into something. At the moment, I want to show more of their charachter, and try to develop the plot a little, put everyone into a good position, before I start with the all out fighting :P

Jakinbandw:

I was just about to post this as I saw your comment! Thanks for the praise, I'm glad you like it! I'm not sure if I am adding enough of the 'zanny-ness' of Love Hina in, but at the same time, I feel I am taking a different path anyway, and I don't want to try to hard to write that stuff in and make it feel forced. The story kind of flows from me, and if you try too hard to write stuff in, it can feel unnatural. Great to know you are enjoying it!

Thank you to all readers. It's great to write this kind of stuff, and although it's nice to read my own writing, I know how great it is to read someone else's and I hope I'm giving back something, as I've taken out a lot in the past :P

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Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed this, we writers live for it :P

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	5. The Christmas storm

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Love Hina: Deserted

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I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment, constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the sun, so please help me out!

Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here.

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Chapter 5:

The Christmas storm...

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Keitaro woke up lazily, slowly rubbing his eyes and debating within himself whether or not he should fall back asleep. He was so warm and comfortable, it was hard. He rolled over a few times, then threw off his blanket – he cooled down a little and felt less sleepy. He slid off the bed, dragging himself upright, and rubbed his eyes some more, yawning and blindly grabbing around for his glasses. He eventually found them and put them on, looking around to check nothing was out of order.

He looked out of the window, and saw... nothing. The window was completely white. "The snow must have blown this way and covered up the window..." he mused aloud, pushing the window open. He was right, there was snow on there, but when he moved it away, there was still no change. White. The cold wind blew in, carrying plenty of snow with it. His brain was shocked back into action – and he realised what it was. There was so much snow falling that he couldn't see further than about a meter in front of him.

A blizzard.

Not what he had had in mind when he wished for a white Christmas. He went downstairs, and turned on the TV – trying to see how long it would last. The TV showed only static. He picked up the phone, and there was no dial-tone. It appeared they were cut off from the rest of the world. They couldn't go out in the blizzard either – they would freeze to death – not to mention getting lost. He sighed and started to make some tea – a small amount of fear in the pit of his stomach. He ignored it and went up to see if the girls were all right.

Shinobu walked straight into Keitaro as he was coming out of the kitchen. they both blushed and backed off quickly. She had a thought that it was nice to be pressed up against him, even if only for an accidental second.

"Shinobu-chan, have you seen it?" asked Keitaro quickly.

"Yes, if you mean the snow," she began, "It's not good – no TV, no Phone, no Mobiles... nothing works..." she said, looking a little distressed.

"Don't worry, it'll pass. If worst comes to worst – we don't leave for a couple of days. It'll all be fine" he said reassuringly.

"But what about Kitsune and Mutsumi-chan? They must be trapped somewhere!" she said, slightly hysterical.

"Don't worry, they will have just found somewhere to stay – the worst possible outcome is that they don't spend Christmas with us, which would be a big shame, but not earth-shattering, OK?" Keitaro said. Truthfully, he was scared. They could be trapped in the station, or walking somewhere, they could die. Especially with Mutsumi's health... but going outside now would be suicide, especially for Shinobu. He resolved to talk it over with Motoko, and decide what the best course of action was. If they could get out, they would need to be well prepared.

Motoko wondered why Keitaro wanted her, presumably something to do with the blizzard. She walked slowly through to his room, opening the door and stepping in, after knocking and getting permission. She sat down and wondered, remembering the weak self of the past, who would have been terrified at the thought of entering the room of a 'dirty male'. She let her head fall back slightly, and laughed at herself on the inside. After calling him the fool for years, who was the fool?

"Motoko-chan..." Keitaro began, "I'm sure you understand the situation, It's obviously not a problem for us. Since this place was just built, the roof should hold up against the snow, but I'm worried about Kitsune and Mutsumi-chan... They could be trapped somewhere, or in some kind of trouble... especially with Mutsumi-chan's health..." he trailed off, leaving the implication clear. Motoko sighed, looking him in the eyes firmly. "Going outside now is impossible, even with a compass to guide the way and ski gear, we could get only a short distance. Not to mention searching would be nigh-impossible. Su has informed me that although her equipment works well in the heat, in the cold it doesn't do so well – they don't get that much snow in Momol, so we would have to search too..." Keitaro sighed. Su and her gear had been his last real chance.

"I just... I don't want to loose anyone else?.. You know?.." he said, looking up at her with his eyes glistening with tears. He punched the floor with surprising ferocity, and Motoko was slightly taken aback. Remembering the clothing pegs incident years before, where Keitaro had comforted her, she moved forward, and pulled his face into her chest, his tears streaming.

"What happened, what did _she_ do?" Motoko asked quietly, with surprising venom on the word 'she'.

Keitaro looked up at her, then pulled back, looking her straight in the eyes.

"She... " he attempted, then controlled himself and started again, "Naru... Naru was cheating on me." he said, looking up, and incredible pain in his voice. Motoko looked shocked, then angry, angry at the woman who had taken him, when so many others could have been faithful to him.

"He... Mine-sensei... He was a young teacher at Tokyo U... about three years older than me..." he continued, straining, "**HE WAS NICE TO ME!**" he bellowed, with a huge amount of aggression, "for months he had been nice to me, months where they... they were together. We went drinking, all sorts. It just makes it worse!". He continued to punch the floor, each time with less and less power, until he fell, with no more energy, into Motoko's lap.

Motoko didn't know what to say. She had nothing to say. She simply stroked his hair and sat there. They both fell asleep in time.

Outside the door, there was a slight whimpering. And then the pattering of feet.

The next morning, Motoko woke up splayed out on the floor, with a weight upon her. She looked down, and saw Keitaro, and almost threw him off until she remembered what had happened the night before. She sighed. Keitaro's face was streaked with tears. He woke up and looked around him, and seeing Motoko, scampered back.

"Motoko-chan! Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, So..." then he looked out through his fingers to see her sat still, and remembered what had happened. "Oh..." he whispered.

Shinobu saw Motoko and Keitaro walk into the Dining Room, she rose up, blocked their path, and stood still, eyes ablaze.

"Shinobu?" Keitaro said questioningly, and the saw her eyes. He had never seen that look in her eyes before.

"**Am I still so much a child to you?**"Shinobu cried, shocking both Keitaro and Motoko, "You said to me that it would all be fine, and then, you go and confirm my doubts as your own to her? Am I still so much a child to you that you have to hide your views from me? You hide it from me as if I were still 12! I'm not a little girl any more! Did you think that I could not handle the fact she cheated on you? Am I too young to understand sex, relationships? Is that what you think of me? Can I not help you with your troubles, **am I that useless**?" Shinobu started to mumble, her eyes soaked with tears, she shook her head, and they flew of her face, her hair whirled around her head, and her knees buckled, leaving her to collapse onto the floor, her hands in front of her, hair hanging down in front of her face, tears dripping onto the floor, breathing heavily.

Motoko stood perfectly still, recoiled slightly, then continued to stare at her.

Keitaro's mind slowed to a crawl. He realised she must have heard last night, and registered what she had said. She was right, he had reassured her, then gone to Motoko – he had treated her as a child. He remembered how he had wondered at her organisation and calm before, and mentally kicked himself. He took two steps forward, fell to his knees, and bought her head over his shoulder, stroking her hair, and simply whispered into her ear. "I'm so sorry Shinobu, I'm so, so sorry.", letting his head fall back he sighed again and put both hands on her shoulders, pushing her back a little, and then pulled back towards him, touching their foreheads together. "I've only realised now what I've done, forgive me, and I promise you, now, here, that from now on, I will always think of you as a woman. A beautiful woman."

"Really?" Shinobu asked forcefully, looking straight into his eyes.

"Really." Keitaro responded. Staring straight back.

She fell into his chest and cried. Cried until she could cry no more, tears depleted.

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Note: Mobiles Cell Phones for those in the USA (I'm English).

I'm kinda touched by this chapter myself, so I hope you are too :P

I was considering cutting this into to parts, and having a chapter called 'Outside the door...' - but I think this worked better, and it would have made two very short chapters, which I know you all hate.

On a side note, yet another random character I have managed to create, Tally that up as two. Mine-sensei probably won't be a big star though, If I go as planned,

Vilcath:

Yeah, wasting time until I get my stuff for Christmas :P I may be a little busy then, but hopefully I'll get an update up some time soon after. although I could be away for up to a week with relatives, so I may disappear! Thanks for the kind review, I agree with all of your points. I do have a serious thing for Su - although that comes a lot later. She didn't really star (in fact, get mentioned at all) in this chapter. I just felt there was no real way to fit her in without ruining the atmosphere :P

Jackinbandw:

Heh, if you thought Motoko was soft before, what about now? I appear to have switched Motoko and Shinobu around for this chapter :P

Thanks for the praise!

Zhou-Mak:

Heh, I think the sparks have already flown! More to come, no doubt. Again, what Naru did is partially reviled, but there is more, oh so much more. That comes later though. There are clues if you look back, as the story won't fit in it's current state to what Keitaro has said. As to other characters – I'll probably keep them for later introduction – remember as this is based on the anime, and it's before Love Hina Next – Kanako has never appeared, which could make for fun.

Note: I got the e-mail for this review, but it doesn't appear to be up yet in the comments section. I'm not going mad!

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Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed this, we writers live for it :P

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	6. The dying snow

Love Hina: Deserted

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I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment, constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the sun, so please help me out!

Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here.

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OK, I have migrated answering to my comments to the top of the chapter – as I feel it makes more sense.

First of all, sorry for the wait! Real life borked everything up, but I'm rewarding your patience with an extra-long chapter. Note that I'll probably update, although faster than this one, slower in the future. Probably on weekends. Just a warning :P

Nice to see more readers, Hope I continue to do well for you!

Zhou-Mak: Thanks for the review. You said 'In front of Motoko' – but I think that Shinobu was also upset with her, she didn't question Keitaro over not telling her this either. More on that in this chapter. I know this seems harsh on Keitaro, but you have to think of it as Shinobu's tension and stress – look at her state in her mind in... I think around Paragraph 4 of this Chapter. Maybe this will make it a bit more clear about what kind of mental state she was meant to be in. It was kind of rushed, I guess. But I think that Keitaro would never have just have accepted Shinobu as an adult straight away – and she wants him to know it – in fact, she's wanted him to think of her as an adult all along – so although rushed – I think it would have been rushed in reality – if you get what I mean. As to what Naru did, I'm not sure It'll be too soon, actually my current plan sits it around 6 story arcs from here – although that could change.

Jackinbandw: Thanks for the kind words. As to snow – artistic licence :P (I'm in England – very little snow. Always cold, but never snow. Worst of both worlds.)

Vilkath: Thanks for the review. I know that the big outburst was not the best part for a lot of people – but I kind of had to write it once I had it in my mind, the story kind of flows for me, Still, I'll try to be more subtle in the future... although I'm not sure if I will be able to constrain myself with Naru ;P As to what she has done, see my response to Zhou-Mak. I want to leave it open, gives me more options later, although I have what I think will be what happened at the moment.

Major Mike Powell III: Thanks for the response. Considering the situation in the story, Semper-Fi kind of has an ironic ring to it :P. As to Mutsumi, She might get sidetracked a bit, but she will be featured as much as any others, except for the obvious ones.

Battenfield: Thanks for the review. You might not like my treatment of Naru, but so it goes...

JonJ: Ah, the arc coming up will be good for comforting, I think - a lot of emotions will be shown, hopefully – as well as the history of the other characters – I haven't said much about what's happened to them. This chapter is longer!

TornadoReviewer: Thanks for the response. Nice to know you like the story, Motoko's reaction is covered in this chapter.

Godslayer221: Thanks for the review. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

On the delay:

'Sorry for the inconvenience.'

Without furthur ado:

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Chapter 6:

The dying snow...

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Keitaro slowly pushed himself up and thought over what happened the day before. He sighed and sat staring out of his window. Shinobu had been avoiding him – obviously not sure what to say, and Motoko had given the excuse of needing to train, and gone up to the roof – which was now safe as the snow has slowed down, although it had taken her quite some time to clear it – and the roads were still to covered, as well as the phone, electricity and TV services all being off-line.

In the evening before the emergency services were moving from house to house, checking if there was anyone trapped or hurt. Keitaro had informed them of Mutsumi and Kitsune – while assuring them everyone was OK here. He was then assured he had done everything he could do in the situation, and decided to try to do things to take his mind off it. Keitaro pulled himself out of bed and got washed and dressed, then started cleaning and doing general odd jobs. He continually kicked himself mentally, He had been so stupid. He had never seen Shinobu _angry_. He had seen her embarrassed far to many times, but never angry. He realised she must just have this pent up – only now could she show this emotion. He shook his head in shame. She had been so nice to him, and he couldn't see how much she had grown up – simply because she still was as kind as she was before – now she was... so much more. On top of this, he realised the implications of his words. He had to stick to them, but he had said them hastily, without thinking. "I will always think of you as a woman. A beautiful woman." was what he had said. He realised afterwards that this turned of little-sister-mode. Shinobu was a woman – and he couldn't deny he was attracted to her. She wanted to be treated with respect – and yet he had managed to mess up his fix to that too. "Keitaro no Baka" he stated shaking his head again.

Shinobu woke quickly and started to get ready on auto-pilot. About halfway through putting on her underwear she became conscious enough to remember what she had said, and stopped, shocked at herself. Throughout the previous day she had basically been blank, just doing things without thinking about the task at hand – constantly wondering if Keitaro hated her now – the implications of what she had said so rashly. He had said he would treat her like a woman – and that was what Shinobu wanted – but not at the price of his friendship. Keitaro probably thought she was a horrible person now. She had avoided him at all costs the day before – scared of what he would say. Scared he would hate her. She laid back and sighed deeply, and tried to remember exactly what she had said. She realised she had said 'sex' in front of him and blushed, remembering his response, his proximity to her. He had called her a beautiful woman. She thought over that, and it showed hope to her. Thinking about it all was embarrassing for her – just thinking about him in the way she was excited her. She stretched herself out, trying to change her train of thought, and wondered at the aggression she had pored into her outburst – she hadn't been that angry at Keitaro, the mix of her dismay at what she had saw, her envy of Motoko at being the one Keitaro could go to, her anger at Naru for doing such a thing to Keitaro, her anger at herself for not being good enough, not to mention the fact she had drunk a fair amount of sake – all of it together had been enough – now that she was a little older – to finally give out her feelings – well – some of them at least. She decided she needed to talk to Keitaro – whether it was good or bad, she had to do it. She had to know so she could carry on.

Keitaro looked at Shinobu walking towards him, he didn't know what to do, was she going to have another outburst, was she going to ignore him and go past him, would she cry? He didn't know. He simply stood still and waited.

Shinobu walked towards him, and he stood totally still. She didn't know how he would react, would he hate her, ignore her? She didn't know. She simply walked up to him.

"Senpai... I... I'm sorry. I said too much... and..." she struggled to say something, trying to find the right words.

"Shinobu-chan," Keitaro began, "You had all right to be upset, I was wrong..."

"You don't hate me?" Shinobu said, softly, her eyes begging him

"Of course not!" he said, hugging her tightly. "You are important to me, and I shouldn't have been so stupid."

"Thank you..." Shinobu said, a few tears of joy running down her face – but she wiped them away – moving quickly of towards the kitchen.

Keitaro smiled to himself as she went – as bad as things were – she appeared to be far better now than she had been – and if she was OK – then things could return to normal, but Motoko was still on the roof practising – what was going through her head, how had she reacted – he wondered. He could do little though – besides trying to get the two of them to talk – an that would have been futile – not to mention a bad idea all in all. There was no way that he could do it and not risk aggravating the situation.

Motoko sat on the roof, her sword by her side. Practising was good and well – but with her mind as clouded with doubt as it was at the moment – it was futile. It was obvious to her what was happening. She was annoyed with herself for treating Shinobu like a child – she knew Shinobu was as much an adult as she was, and yet she had gone along with it, treating her as a child. And yet, all of Shinobu's anger was faced at Keitaro – Motoko wasn't stupid, she knew this wasn't because of seeing the other girls target Keitaro or something like that – it was because she cared. She cared a lot more about what Keitaro thought about he than what she thought about her. It was obvious – to her – that Shinobu loved Keitaro. It was something that didn't shock her – she had knew this, in a way, all along. What shocked her was the strength of those feelings, and her own feeling that she didn't want Shinobu to 'take him'. This shocked her, as she didn't really know if she liked him yet...

Motoko's train of thought was cut off as someone came up the stairs, she grabbed her sword and started a motion, repeating it.

Shinobu walked carefully, calling out to Motoko – so she didn't get sliced in half as she approached. Keitaro had learnt that lesson in the past.

"Motoko... About yesterday..." Shinobu began shifting uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry." Motoko said, bowing low in front of Shinobu. Shinobu stepped back, shocked. She started to open her mouth to respond but Motoko motioned for her to stop.

"I also treated you as much a child as Keitaro did, and I am deeply sorry for any hurt I may have caused, I acted foolishly." she said, looking at Shinobu

Shinobu shed a small tear and said "Thank you, Motoko-chan, thank you so much." and hugged her.

Keitaro sat at the table for Lunch, and looked around him, and saw Shinobu, Motoko & Su fortunately the latter seemed oblivious to the incident.

"**Itadakimasu!**"

"Itadakimasu"

"Itadakimasu"

"Itadakimasu"

He felt more comfortable eating, but the thought of Kitsune and Mutsumi trapped was still on his mind.

"Go-chisou sama deshita" Keitaro said around his last mouthful, aware he was the last one to finish.

"Let's watch some TV!" Su said energetically, springing over towards the TV, as she was turning it on Keitaro pointed out that the TV line was out because of the snow, but to their surprise, the TV came on. Su stuck out her tongue at Keitaro – enjoying being right. He ignored her and walked over to pick up the phone, and, hearing a dial tone, called the station to see what had happened to Mutsumi and Kitsune. To everyone's relief they had been taken to a nearby hotel and staid there, and would get a taxi to Hinata House as soon as possible. This took a weight off everyone's mind, and Shinobu started cooking and adding to the decorations, which ended up involving everyone.

There was the sound of an engine outside – which – due to the snow, had been unusually quiet – and everyone moved towards the door swiftly, Su, being the first one there, yanked it open.

Kitsune grinned widely and stepped in, Mutsumi behind her. Kitsune started putting down some bags while Mutsumi started greeting everyone, Kitsune joining her as she finished. Everyone sat down and began to chat, Keitaro explaining his situation to the sympathetic crowd. Kitsune was startled and angry at the news of Naru's betrayal – Mutsumi just looking upset. They moved on swiftly, bringing about new conversation – until everything they needed to say had been said – and then the party began.

With everyone having finally arrived, Shinobu started getting the food cooking, and bringing out drinks, appetisers, and games. Kitsune greatly approved at the wide variety of Sake on offer, and proceeded to start drinking. Everyone else enjoyed the party, and towards the end of the night, Kitsune bought out 'Twister'.

"Let's play this!" She said, flicking her wrists and unfurling the mat she held, to which everyone looked.

"How do you play?" Su asked, running over and shuffling through the contents of the Twister box.

"You spin the spinner," Kitsune began, spinning the spinner to amplify the meaning of her words, "and then you have to put the limb shown onto the colour shown, and you keep on playing till you collapse." she ended, grinning widely on 'collapse'.

"That sounds fun!" Su shouted, ever-energetic, and began messing around with the spinner.

"I wouldn't like everyone staring at me as I did it..." Motoko began

"No! You all play together, one person spins the spinner – though." Kitsune said, poking Motoko

"That can be me" Mutsumi stated, "I'd probably faint if I tried to play – Too much blood to the wrong places."

Keitaro laughed a little and said "I'm up for it – should be fun." Being in close contact with the girls was also something he wouldn't mind.

Shinobu looked at the mat warily. She wasn't sure if she could do it, but Keitaro was going to play, and she wanted to be in close-contact with him wherever possible. She was undecided, but her Sake gave her a little Dutch courage. "I'll play" she said softly, to most people's surprise.

Motoko still refused, until Kitsune decided to pipe in.

"If Motoko really can't play, we shouldn't interfere..." she said, looking away.

"Can't?" Motoko said staring at her. "Fine, I'll play. And win" She said.

"That's the spirit!" - Kitsune beamed as she said this, giving the spinner to Mutsumi, and getting ready to start.

"Right foot yellow!"

"Oh, that's going to hurt in the morning!"

"Right hand green!"

"Gotcha!"

"Green hand left!"

"What?"

"Ara? Sorry! Left hand green!"

The game continued for a long time, nobody getting out, until had to get a foot from one side of the mat to the other, and fell, bringing everyone down with him. Everyone began to laugh and try to get up, but being stuck, tired, hot and very drunk (Especially Mutsumi – who had been drinking while they played), they all fell asleep on the mat, exhausted.

The next morning, Keitaro was the first one up, amazed to find Su hanging onto one of his legs, like she did with the trees in her room, his arms wrapped around Mutsumi and Kitsune, and Motoko and Shinobu splayed across his chest, holding on for dear life.

And all of them were in a state of undress, to various levels.

This was going to be hard to explain.

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Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed this, we writers live for it :P


	7. The shopping trip

Love Hina: Deserted

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I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment, constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the sun, so please help me out! 

Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here.

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First think to do is this: 

/me bows

Gomen Nasi! I have been so wrapped up exams, along with other stuff I just haven't been able to write. I know how annoying it is when a fic doesn't get updated, as a long time reader I wanted to put something back, but those literally tens of fans of mine have no doubt been disappointed. I apologise profusely.

I will try to update ASAP, and I realise this isn't an overly long chapter (weighs in at around 1.5k words), but it's the best I can do in the circumstances. I haven't checked it much either, so no doubt it's full of spelling, grammar, and continuance errors. Oh well. I feel it's better than making you wait any longer.

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Chapter 7: 

The shopping trip.

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Keitaro wobbled precariously, desperately trying to maintain a semblance of balance while holding Shinobu. It was a hard task, not helped by the fact he was trying to touch her as little as possible, all too aware of the fact he was already aroused being this close to her and the other girls with such a lack of clothing around. He slowed his breathing and stood still, then moved up another step, and continuing upwards, until he reached the top and stood triumphant. Well, triumphant in a droopy, exhausted kind of manner.

He moved through as silently as he could to Shinobu's room, hoping everyone was drunk enough to be sound asleep. He moved through the door frame, a tricky manoeuvre, but he managed it, helped by Shinobu being the smallest of all of the girls. He laid her down and knelt next to her, brushing her hair out of her eyes and face. He took a look over her. She was wearing just underwear and a shirt. Her face was beautiful as ever, now more defined and womanly, but still undeniably cute. His focused moved down to her hourglass figure, and her long, slender legs. She was inspiringly beautiful. He moved a bit closer and looked again, his gaze lingering on her chest. She had grown a lot, here specifically, and he couldn't help but wonder how good she would look _naked_ right now.

He mentally shook himself and stood, covering her with a blanket, and got out of there before he got too excited. It was a little too late. Carrying the girls up he had had plenty of _things _pressed up to him, and he had seen far too much. He had to keep a strict reign on himself to remind himself this was to help the _girls, _not help _himself. _He pulled himself together and started clearing up downstairs. He doubted he would get much sleep tonight. Even after finishing cleaning.

Shinobu groggily flicked her eyes open, wondering where she was. The ground was hard. Not usually the feeling she'd get when waking up. She looked around, and saw she was alone. Remembering what had happened the night before, or at least, some of it, she blushed a little. Keitaro came down the stairs at this point, and she pretended to be asleep, not really knowing why. He came over and said 'Last one.' and lifted her. Shinobu remained limp and mentally froze, wondering what to do. It was warm and lovely being pressed up against him, and she didn't want him to stop carrying her, but 'Last one' signified he had carried the rest up, and would no doubt be very tired. Shinobu raged between her two options, and chose to be selfish and stay quiet. She tried to tell herself it was because he was on the stairs, and if she moved now, she could make him fall – but she knew this wasn't true.

He held her more tightly as he wobbled slightly and her heartbeat raced. Her chest was now pressed into him, and she wanted to be like this forever. He held her for a while longer, then put her down in her room. She still pretended to sleep, and noticed he appeared to be sat by her, she could hear him breathing, but he wasn't pulling her sheets over her... She opened her eyelids a fraction and looked through her lashes, to find him staring right back at her face. She shut them quickly, but he made no sign he had noticed, and she inwardly gave a sigh of relief. A moment later he covered her and walked out. When Shinobu fell asleep, her dreams were a cacophony of fantasies.

The next morning everyone was talking about the previous night and generally having a laugh. Kitsune mentioned passing out on the floor and it was revealed no one had gone upstairs, and Keitaro admitted to carrying them all up. Motoko seemed appalled by the idea, and said he should have just waked them, and not put so much effort for them, while the rest all just seemed grateful. Keitaro was surprised none of them voiced any concern over him carrying them. After this, all of the Girls chose to have a bath, and Shinobu invited Keitaro to go and bathe in the half that had been sectioned off for men. Everyone talked, and Kitsune drank, which soon passed over to them all, and everyone was soon happy and without worries.

Keitaro excused himself and decided to go shopping. He hadn't yet been out, and it was _Christmas Eve. _He _needed_ to get presents. He pulled on a Jacket and started to move out of the door, when Kitsune came by. "Are you going out?" she asked casually, slinking over. "Yeah, I need to get a few... things." Keitaro said, stalling slightly, hoping she wouldn't notice. "I'll come with then" Kitsune said, looping her arm through his "You lot have emptied my sake supply, and I need to get some more". Keitaro felt annoyed at this, but realised he couldn't decline without suspicion, so he agreed and went out. They got back some time later, then laden heavily with what they had bought. Keitaro wondered where Kitsune actually put the stuff, but ignored this and decided he needed an excuse to go out again. He started cleaning and emptied some supplies, so used this as an excuse to go out. Unfortunately for him, Motoko decided she needed some supplies for maintain her swords and suchlike, and so came with him. Again, without reason to say no, he agreed and set off on another trip where he could not do what he actually wanted. He moved quickly, and thanked god that Motoko knew what she was out to get, and bought things quickly and concisely. He arrived back and put what he had bought away, then moved through to the kitchen, and decided to make a snack. In a stroke of luck, he noticed that they needed some food, so he decided to go out for this. His heart sunk as Shinobu approached and he knew what she would say before she said it. "Ah! Are you going out?". "Yes, just restocking the fridge, actually." Keitaro replied, unable to think up an alternative that Shinobu would have no interest in "Shall I come along?" Shinobu smiled happily, pulling out her jacket and starting to put it on.

Keitaro realised this would be his last chance, shops would shut soon, so he just said quickly "No, I can manage, I'll be back later", And rushed out.

Shinobu was walking along, wondering if she should wait to go shopping for food. She did need some, but there should be enough... She spotted Keitaro putting on his jacket and saw her chance. She found out he was going to do the task she was considering putting off, and found it a million times more appealing. She energetically asked to go with him, and was upset by the stark and cold response she got. She went off somewhat upset at a missed chance, and wrote off his cold response as being rushed, but it played on her mind.

Keitaro cursed himself for his wording and moved on. It sounded colder than he meant it, but forced himself to move anyway, he had little time and it was already hard to find gifts. He walked along and looked around, trying to find something for one of the girls. Then he looked through one window, and saw something perfect.

Keitaro hurried back. It was late and he had to go to pick up the food as well. Happy he had gotten good presents, he stalked in and stealthily put them into hiding, and then put away the food. He went to his room, put on some music and relaxed. It would be Christmas tomorrow, and he was happy.

Motoko looked at her body. She was naked, and had a full length mirror. She knew she was attractive, she had been told, and kept her body in good shape, but she wondered if this was enough. She had always thought of Keitaro as a lusty male, only bothered by breasts and sex. She realised this was a stupid and ignorant view some time ago, and that he was just as deep emotionally as any person was, if not deeper. If the former were true, he would like her the most, and yet she would not like him. As someone who looks at emotions too, the very reason she likes him is the reason he might not like her. She sighed at the irony of the parallel, and started to dress. She had chosen Keitaro would be the man she likes, maybe loves, but had also realised that he probably likes Shinobu, and she certainly loves him. This would make it difficult, if not impossible, but she knew that she had no choice. It was how she felt.

At dinner everyone sat and talked, laughing, having fun, and enjoying themselves. Shinobu was happy, as Keitaro had been talking to her happily, and the coldness from earlier must have just been him in a rush. He heart was lifted at realising this, and she relaxed a little more.

"It's hard to believe it's Christmas tommorow!" said Mutsumi, looking somewhat distant. Everyone gave small words of agreement, and then everyone decided to call it a night, and Keitaro moved up to his room last, talking to Shinobu.

"Have a good night, Senpai." Shinobu said, smiling.

"I will, you have a good one too." He said, smiling warmly back.

"Hai." She said, and moved off to her room.

Keitaro laid himself down, and wondered what would happen tommorow.

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Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed this, we writers live for it :P 


	8. On Christmas day

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Love Hina: Deserted

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I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment, constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the galaxy, so please help me out! 

Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here

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OMFG! Another update so soon? This is my way of saying sorry for the lag that I have left in the past. I'll try to be more like this, but there will probably be more times where there is nothing for quite a while. This one is around 2.5k words, so it's one of my longest chapters. 

If anyone has any comments on my style and stuff, I'd love to hear it. There are a few points where I wonder if I'm skipping through too much dialogue? I feel it moves the story along, and try to only voice important points, and this stops boredom for the reader, what's your view?

Also, loving being added to favourites and story alert, always a good sign someone likes my story :P

I also made it my mission to try and talk about breasts slightly less this chapter xD

ZBoi: Thanks. Sorry, but I have to bash her a lot for the story to work. And Shinobu at any age FTW.

Major Mike Powell III: I tried to add in more Mutsumi, but I don't think I have done her proud, she will get more in the way of stuff soon. I promise. And yeah. I think I'm putting the fact I should be exorcising to loose some weight onto Keitaro xD.

NefCanuck: I did have another direction planned with that, with her getting really upset, but I thought it was too OTT and OOC, really.

Nick-kun: Not at all.

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Chapter 8: 

On Christmas day...

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Keitaro opened his eyes groggily and yawned, then stopped halfway. His brain whirred into action and he registered one word. 

Christmas.

He sat right up and smiled widely. It was Christmas day. He checked his hiding place with his gifts in. Everything sat wrapped and ready. He grinned again and closed it up, then stretched a bit and moved out into the corridor. He quickly checked each of the girls rooms to see if they were there, and it appeared only Su and Kitsune were still asleep, leaving Shinobu, Motoko, and Mutsumi up and about.

He ran into Mutsumi first, on the way to get washed. She ran forward and hugged him, and said "Merry Christmas!", "Merry Christmas" he said likewise and they both smiled broadly. Mutsumi blushed a little, pecked him on the cheek and ran off. Keitaro looked blankly and mumbled a little, registering she had kissed him. He decided she must have just picked up some western culture or something.

He moved on swiftly, washed, dressed, and on his way to eat, he met Motoko. They greeted and exchanged pleasantries, and then he noticed Motoko was moving while talking, and he followed. They ended up back where he was before. "Merry Christmas" said Motoko, and Keitaro once again replied with "Merry Christmas." After this, she blushed a little and then quickly kisses him on the cheek, then moves off at speed. Keitaro was stupified. There was no way Motoko would ever have done that... it was odd. He once again wrote it off as just a greeting, it couldn't be her announcing love for him? No way. That's ridiculous.

Sighing at the oddness of it all, but remembering the two ladies lips on his cheek, he walked to the kitchen and found Shinobu, actively cooking his breakfast. He sat down, and smiled strongly at her as she bought food towards him. "Merry Christmas Senpai!" she said happily. "Thank you ever so much, Shinobu-chan, Merry Christmas!" she also sat down with a plate of food and they ate together, talking and enjoying themselves. When they had both finished, Shinobu said she needed to call Su and Kitsune to eat, and stood up, grabbing Keitaro's had and moving at speed out towards the stairs. He allowed himself to be lead, not understanding why he needed to come, but not upset to still be in her company.

In the meantime, some ninjas were slinking into the house. No one noticed their stealthy advance, and they moved towards Keitaro's room.

Keitaro ended up with Shinobu in the same spot Motoko and Mutsumi had kissed him. He felt somewhat wary. Shinobu turned to him and he cocked his head questioningly "Not calling them?" he asked, and then was silenced as Shinobu through her arms around his neck, pushed herself up on tiptoes, and planted a kiss firmly on his lips. His eyes opened wide in shock and he stood frozen.

Shinobu's heart beat so fast she was scared it would burst out of her chest. She felt herself blush, and other events occurring, and pulled herself towards him, and then kissed him. It was a simple kiss, no tongue, no parting of the lips, but it excited her beyond comprehension anyway. She had done a few things to prepare for this, including drinking a little, and was still very, very surprised that she had actually gone ahead with it. She quickly ran off shouting to Su and Kitsune as she did, and moved into the kitchen, and busied herself.

Keitaro still stood stunned. He had just about comprehended the other girls kisses, but on the lips. What in Kami's name was going on? He saw Kitsune and Su and didn't move still. Kitsune saw him and said "Hello! Dangerous place to stand!" and then proceed to give him a kiss on the cheek. Keitaro was starting to wonder if he was dreaming, or had been transported to an alternate reality. Su seemed to be the only one on the same planet as him. "Why'd you kiss Keitaro?" she asked and Kitsune laughed a little and pointed to the ceiling. "See that? It's Mistletoe. When two people stand under it they have to kiss. I put it up late last night."

Keitaro started to laugh, almost manically, his shattered brain of reasoning finally comprehended it all. Su came up and kissed him on the forehead, and then ran off shouting "Food time!" and headed towards to Kitchen, and Kitsune followed laughing. Half at her, half with Keitaro.

Keitaro wiped a small tear from his eyes and then move to the kitchen. Seeing everyone else eating, and sat down to talk. Shinobu seemed to be blushing profusely and running around trying to avoid him slightly. He realised she was probably very embarrassed about what had happened. He went over to Shinobu and said "How are you doing? Come and sit down, everyone's talking, you can wait to serve more food later, or let them do it. Come and join in." Shinobu looked at him and her blush deepened a little, then started to fade. "OK" she said, smiling broadly. Now everyone was sat around the table and talked.

Shinobu was happy. Keitaro had seemed to be fine, which meant he must have been OK with the kiss. It had taken her so much courage, and it had paid off. She smiled to herself, and continued to talk to everyone.

Once everyone was done, Su said "Let's go to the tree and get the presents!". Keitaro froze. They were still in his room. He whispered a begging request to Motoko to go and get them, telling her the hiding place. She agreed and he desperately tried to stall the girls.

Motoko moved up the stairs swiftly, and moved into Keitaro's room. She was thinking about whether to look around a little before she walked in, but then her thoughts changed. She saw 5 ninjas in the room, one carrying the presents. She sweat dropped and then her hand moved to her sword.

A few minutes later, there were no ninjas in the room, and the pile of presents were nicely preserved. She holstered her sword, happy with the result, and picked up the presents, moving downstairs, and decided not to share the incident with the others.

She put them down, then shouted to Keitaro that she was at the tree. He finally let the girls past, somewhat worn out from his stalling.

Everyone started opening gifts, and the girls moved through each others first, and then finally, everyone was at Keitaro's gifts. Shinbou noted that she hadn't had any money taken to pay for them, so Keitaro must have been working to get the money for them all. She frowned, but opened hers anyway. Inside was a small box, everyone had one. Inside was a small item of Jewellery. Each of the girl's was different. Also in the box was a card which allowed each of the girls to have a dress tailored for them at a nearby shop. The total expense of the gifts dawned on the girls and they all asked how he had afforded it, considering he had been a tramp some while before. He refused to reveal this, and simply smiled with a knowledge they didn't posses.

Shinobu put on her necklace, it has a pale blue jewel in the centre of a ring of silver, on a thin silver chain. Delicate, with beauty. Keitaro thought it fitted perfectly.

Mutsumi had earrings, they were shaped like water droplets, and sparkled with many small jewles.

Motoko has a ring, it had a sword imprinted in the top of it, and was formed to look like a shield.

Su put on a bracelet that was a long snake or semi-circles with swivelling joints along each semi-circle, and they folded around her wrist, the tail attaching close to the head.

Kitsune had a bracelet too, and hers was a chain with many small objects hanging off it, all associated with luck.

Each item had both the owner's and Keitaro's name inscribed on it.

Each one now wearing their objects, and they all hugged and thanked Keitaro, who smiled at the happiness of the girls. He could not help but be happy that the girls were happy.

A bit later, the girls all headed to the tailors and got their dresses, and then came back home, to find Keitaro waiting in a tuxedo. He had set up the house as a ball, cleaning an area for dancing, and with food set up too. He had obviously been planning it for some time.

"Actually, I saw some dresses in the window, and it all kind of stemmed from that, It's all a little thrown together" Keitaro laughed when questioned, scratching the back of his head.

Everyone had a lot of fun dancing, talking, and partying. Of course, Not everyone could dance with Keitaro at once, so there was a certain amount of jealousy involved, but Keitaro managed himself fairly, and all too soon, it was over, and most of the girls went to sleep, leaving him and Shinobu still clearing up.

"There, finished." Keitaro said, stretching a little and grinning. It had been a tiring, but amazingly good, day. "Care for one last dance?" he asked Shinbu with a grin.

Shinobu threw something away, and noticed Keitaro stretch. Looking around, she realised that was it. She was a little sad to stop, even if it was cleaning, it was with him. Then he asked if she wanted to dance, and her heart lifted somewhat.

They danced slowly, and Shinobu felt like she was in heaven. Alone, dancing, and very, very happy together. She gained some confidence from a number of things. "Senpai..." she started, "Senpai..." she said again, stalling. She felt herself trying to release what she felt, but unable, after trying to keep it hidden for so long. "It's nothing..." she finished weakly.

"You are probably tired, we should both get to bed, Keitaro said, stopping the dance, then stopping the music. And starting to walk up. "Come on." he said, turning around and smiling.

Shinobu looked at his face a decided. "Senpai... I think... No, I know... I... Love you." she said faintly, closing her eyes and praying to everything religious she could remember.

Keitaro stalled. He must have misheard. Surly. That was it, no way she said I love you, that'd be impossible. Right?

"Please... I don't want you to respond right now... but please... I want you to know..." she said chokingly, crying a little.

Keitaro didn't know what to do. It was a system overload. He paused an pulled himself together.

"Shinobu..." He began, moving up close to her an bending down slightly so he was on the same level as her. "I love you, I really do, but I don't know if that's just like I love everyone here, as a dear, dear friend, or something else..." he sighed explosively and tried to think. "I can't promise anything, but thank you for telling me. We can try and see if there is something here, right?" he said, trying to think of any way to get out of this with everyone happy.

"Really? You might be able to like me?" Shinobu asked, hope shining in her eyes.

"I like you now, you are one of my most important people, and if you love me, then I guess we could go out some time... yeah?" He said, not really understanding the full implications of what he said.

"Senpai..." Shinobu whispered joyfully "Thank you" and then she pulled herself in to kiss him. She parted her lips slightly and felt him do the same. They parted and she felt the warmth of him. She moved off to her room, over the moon. He likes me she said to herself, he will go out with me... I've done it! Shinobu had finally put her feelings out in the open, and she hadn't been rejected. A new wave of happiness rushed over her and she nearly skipped to her room.

Keitaro finally registered it. Shinobu... loved him. It was beyond comprehension. He had never realised it was like that. He had agreed to go on a date with her... it was almost surreal. He pinched himself and moved on upstairs. He saw a flit in the shadows, and he instantly thought 'Ninja?' then laughed at himself, glad of some mental distraction. He moved to his room, and prepared for what would not doubt be a restless night.

Motoko moved back, still in the shadows, flinching slightly as Keitaro looked at where she was. She had been planning on talking to him alone, but it seemed Shinobu beat her to it. She would have never guessed she would have been that forward. Shinobu had changed a hell of a lot. And now Motoko was behind. Should she let Shinobu take him without interference? Motoko doubted she could just watch Keitaro go... She might have to fight back.

Keitaro did one last thing before sleeping. He pulled out his mobile and pressed a few buttons, then put the phone to his ear.

"Hi." he said.

The other end replied, and the conversation continued on the weather, how everyone was and then got down to business.

"Thanks for helping me out with the money." Keitaro said.

"It's the least I can do. I didn't trust you when you needed my trust most. That was stupid. Besides, I got it all off _her_ anyway. Doesn't affect me."

"Well, I doubt _she'll_ be friendly that much longer."

"I'm not really bothered if it's _her_. Besides, it should be yours, and _she _has enough anyway."

"Well, the three of you are coming soon, right? See you then."

"Yes, see you then."

After a little more in the way of farewells, he hung up, and promptly fell asleep.

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Oh drama. That is all. 

And X2501 – I couldn't resist.

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Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed (or not so) this. We writers live for it :P

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	9. A first date

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Love Hina: Deserted

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I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment, constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the galaxy, so please help me out!

Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here

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OK, first of all, the Ninjas and the footnote about X2501 were all because of this:

X2501  
2007-06-24  
The day after that ninjas attack the house and steal the presents keitaro bought.  
And I will continue to believe that until you write otherwise.

It was a small joke, and should not be taken seriously.

On to the next thing. [No Longer Relevant This is a really small chapter, very small indeed, I'll expand on it ASAP, rather than post up another chapter, but this is just to prove I am alive. [/No Longer Relevant This is the chapter in it's entirety. I made some more notes and stuff too, so it's definitely a complete re-read. Once again, it has taken me this ridiculously long to update. I can't apologise enough, I know how annoying it is to be on the reading end and have someone not update, and I was considering trying to write the whole thing and post it up once I was done, but frankly, I think if I did that, I'd never get it done. Not to mention it'd probably be a couple of years before you guys saw it if I did :/. Still, I am persevering. On a side note, I read some of the stuff I had written again to try and keep flow, and noticed I'd written ___cacophony__ in chapter 7 – and was actually surprised it was a word. Still._

Oh, and I corrected the mistake the Anon pointed out. Thanks for that. (God knows how I did that, handspasm to a paste presumably.)

Anywho, Hopefully you will like this chapter. I wasn't sure where I was going, I lost my plan (outline for the entire story) a while back, so I'm sort of going wherever it takes me at the moment.

Major Mike Powell III:

The mistletoe was an idea I came up with on the fly after Mutsumi's kiss, and it sort of grew from there. As to the ball, it was a bit different, and I just felt it seemed just zanny enough, and yet at the same time, strangely regal. I didn't describe the dresses in detail, because I had enough problems with the Jewellery. I am no expert with that kind of stuff, and frankly, had no idea what to write. Sorry. My shortcoming as a writer. If anyone wants to write a small piece about the dresses that I could add in, I'd give you full credit.

As to him being shocked, let's face it, Keitaro is thicker than two sticks and a rock. (Which only ever reminds me of the quote from Sargent Johnson in Halo 2: 'In my day, we didn't have no fansy-shmansy tanks, we had two sticks, two sticks and a rock. And the entire platoon had to share the rock!', anyway, I digress).

As to Mutsumi joining the fight, well, that would be telling, wouldn't it :P.

Zboi:

Yes, as much as I'd accept if I were Keitaro, it'd somewhat cut a lot from the story to do so. And yeah, by any age, I meant any legal age for that kind of love. I mean, younger, young sister love, older,... well...

Glad you enjoy it.

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Chapter 9:

A first date...

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Keitaro woke and a number of things hit him. Primarily that Shinobu had said she _loved _him. Keitaro had felt attracted to her, and had always loved her in a good friend way, and she was a great person... But he wasn't sure if he felt the same way. He was willing to give it a try. How the other residents reacted would be interesting, among other things. He sighed and realised he needed to make up some kind of plan for the date. He drifted into his memory, remembering kissing Shinobu, her lips were so soft... and she was so warm and cute... Keitaro drifted into a fantasy of him and Shinbou, and then realising he was moving so far from reality, he pulled himself together and went to get washed and dressed.

Shinobu was in the Kitchen already, preparing breakfast. She was thinking about the night before, and the fact she would go on a date with him soon. The mere thought of it made her legs weak. She pulled herself together and concentrated on the task at hand before she lost her hand to the sharp and hot instruments in the kitchen.

Motoko was on the roof, training hard. Internally, she was thinking on how she could try and insert herself into the situation. She doubted she could go up to Keitaro and say it straight to his face, but at the same time, he had already agreed to date Shinobu, so any wait would be bad. "Maybe I should just give up..." she said softly, sighing to herself.

"That doesn't sound like you." said a voice behind her, and Motoko spun and swept with her sword, missing Keitaro by millimetres. "Sorry! I didn't realise you were here." Motoko said sheepishly and internally slapped herself. "Give up on what?" Keitaro asked.

Motoko's mind went blank. She could think of nothing. She desperately tried to think of anything that she could say.

"I came to say Shinobu wants you to come down, Breakfast is ready." he said, slowly, "but what give up on what?"

Motoko suddenly came up with something that was believable. "I want to learn to cook." she said.

"To... cook?" Keitaro said questioningly, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes... I... want to cook." Motoko said, somewhat unconvincingly, "But I can't." she added, while mentally kicking herself for wording it so badly.

"Why don't you ask Shinobu?" Keitaro asked, what he thought was helpfully, "I'm sure she would teach you!"

Motoko froze. The last thing she wanted right now was to spend hours (and with her ability to cook, she told herself, it would be hours) learning to cook with Shinobu, her rival in this case, but of course, it made perfect sense, and there was no way she could really refuse.

"She'll be busy, she won't want to waste time trying to teach me..." Motoko rambled.

"You haven't even asked her yet! Come on Motoko, you can't give up on something – that's not like you at all. I would love to try eating something you cooked!" Keitaro said, trying to enthuse her.

"Really?" Motoko asked – If she could cook something for Keitaro... Maybe this could be an inroad? Keitaro was telling her not to give up. She took this as a sign. "OK, I won't give up!" She said out loud.

"Great!" Keitaro said, beaming, "You can ask Shinobu at breakfast!"

Keitaro sat happily at table, watching Motoko asking Shinobu to teach her about cooking, blissfully ignorant to the black aura around Motoko. Motoko moved back and sat down.

"Well?" Keitaro asked hopefully. "She said she would love to..." said Motoko stiffly. Keitaro beamed, happy at what he saw as a good solution to a problem.

There was then a knocking at the door. Shinobu turned around from the table, where she had just put the food down, and walked to the door, Keitaro stood and slowly got up to fall in behind her.

Shinobu opened the door, and looked out to see Seta, Haruka and Sarah were all stood.

Seta and Haruka held hands, they were now obviously getting on rather, but simply by looking at them, it was obvious they still retained all of the energy they had ever had. Haruka had a cigarette in hand, as always. Sarah now was older and taller, and, somewhat surprisingly for everyone, appeared to have a certain air of maturity.

Shinobu looked surprised and then started to greet them all enthusiastically. Keitaro smiled gently and joined the greetings, although saying a lot less. Mitsune popped her head out of a room and looked slightly shocked, then came out to greet them. Su swung down from the landing, looking at them all upside down, then dropped and ran directly onto an intercept course with Sarah. Mutsumi walked in somewhat dazed, still in what she had obviously slept in, yawning. She looked at the three at the door, had a double-take, then walked up to greet with everyone else, apologising for her state of dress.

Everyone sat around and began to talk, Su shuffling over to Sarah and whispering something in her ear, to which Sarah lost the aforementioned air of maturity, and ran after Su up the stairs.

Haruka and Seta talked to everyone, discussing what had gone on over the time that they were apart from each other, and the others did the same.

Everyone was talking, and eventually, Seta and Keitaro were left alone. Everyone off doing other things, including Shinobu and Motoko in the kitchen.

"So, you and Shinobu, huh?" said Seta, having heard about It in the course of talking to Keitaro, "I always thought you two'd make a cute couple."

"You said that about me and _everyone_" said Keitaro, sweatdropping.

"Doesn't mean it's not true..." chuckled Seta.

"Well, nothing is set in stone yet..." said Keitaro, trying to avert from the topic.

In the kitchen, Motoko was _trying_ to cook.

Shinobu looked on somewhat fretfully, Motoko had started off well, being highly proficient and accurate when slicing things up, as was to be expected, but when it came to actually cooking, Motoko managed to fail miserably, and Shinobu wasn't even quite sure how she managed it.

Motoko looked embarrassed as she threw away yet more foul tasting food. She looked to Shinobu to see what the plan was now. Shinobu suddenly had a brainwave. Sushi – no cooking necessary! She rummaged through the fridge to make sure she had everything necessary.

Everyone was called in to eat Lunch, and Motoko's sushi was served, the best prepared being carefully guided to Keitaro. Everyone, including Keitaro, praised her, and she felt relief, and a certain warmth that he liked it. Everyone sat around, making idle chatter while eating.

"So, when are you two going on this date then?" said Seta, looking with purpose at Shinobu and Keitaro.

All was still for just a second, and then a hurricane of noise enveloped as screams of 'What?!' made all of the wildlife evacuate the surrounding area.

Mutsumi looked somewhat fretfully at Keitaro, Su looked to Shinobu with a wide grin on her face, then to Sarah, who had the same grin, Motoko looked at Seta quizzically, Haruka looked at Keitaro, then Shinobu, then took a drag from her Cigarette, lifting her eyebrows slightly, Kitsune took a drink quickly, and looked at everyone else to see their reactions.

"Ah, so I take it you all don't know?" said Seta, leaning back in his chair a little, while Keitaro looked on with a certain amount of contempt,

"Thanks for that. I was trying to keep that under a low profile." he whispered to Seta, who replied at normal volume with:

"Don't mention it, always better when there is more going on."

"Urm, well, It's not a big deal, Me and Shinobu are going to go out on a date at some point... and that's pretty much it..." Keitaro said, trying to defuse the situation.

About an hour later, Keitaro went up to his room, after facing questioning (sometimes under torture, he thought) about the date.

"Uh, Senpai!" a small voice behind him said, and he turned, seeing Shinobu.

"Ah, hey Shinobu, sorry about that, Seta can be a little... thoughtless." Keitaro said slowly.

"No, it wasn't a problem for me, but after that, I just thought that you might not want to go, I've caused you all this trouble and..." began Shinobu, looking down at her feet and rubbing her hands nervously.

"No!" said Keitaro, "It's not your fault at all, I want to go, really!"

"Really?" said Shinobu, looking up with hope on her face.

"Of course." verified Keitaro, smiling softly. "I still haven't really thought of where to go though" he said bashfully.

"Well, there is this beautiful old restaurant that they have decorated for Christmas, but this is the last night, so I guess we can't go there..." Shinobu mused gently.

"Why not?," questioned Keitaro, "We could simply go tonight." - Keitaro had the mentality that sooner meant less time for the girls to be torturing him over it.

"Really?" asked Shinobu excitedly, already pondering what to wear, what she could say, and the like.

"Yup." answered Keitaro shortly, grinning a little.

"So, you knew." said Seta – it was a statement, rather than a quesiton.

"No, I..." began Motoko, then corrected herself, "Yeah. How did you know?"

Seta chuckled slightly, "Your reaction, you were surprised I knew, not at the content of what I said."

"Hmmm..." Motoko thought "Did you think anyone else knew?"

"No, not at all. The expressions on their faces were priceless." said Seta, "Which may, or may not, have been the reason I said what I did..." he riddled, winking, and then walked off. Motoko went to her room, pondering what had been said, and what had happened.

Shinobu dressed, Keitaro said he would not be wearing a suit, so nothing too formal. She wore thighhighs, with a short skirt and a sleeveless blue top which emphasised her curves well, she looked at herself in her mirror and it looked fine, so she went down to see Keitaro.

Keitaro was ready and waiting, and when he saw Shinobu, he was blown away by how she looked. She was very cute, and very sexy at the same time. Without saying anything, she held onto his hand and they walked out, heading towards the restaurant.

When they got to the restaurant Shinobu ran ahead, turning around and shouting back to him, "Isn't it beautiful?!"

Keitaro looked on. It was an old building, large and with rough stonework, It looked quite cold, at face, but looking in there were fireplaces, roaring with warmth you could almost feel just by looking at, and so many people, eating, looking happy and laughing, drinking and talking. The outside was coated with snow and icicles, hanging down, and this gave it a mystical atmosphere. By far what interested Keitaro the most though was Shinobu, stood in front of him, skirt still twirling out a little from when she spun, eyes alive with happiness.

Walking up to her slowly he said softly, "Yes. You are."

Shinobu froze slightly, hearing him say those words was incredible for her. He honestly thought she was beautiful. She would never get over that.

Keitaro leaned in and kissed her, embracing her firmly.

Shinobu kissed back, blissful in his embrace.

When they broke, they stood for a second, looking into each others eyes. "Come on, lets go in to where it is warm." Keitaro said, bashfully. Shinobu simply nodded and agreed with enough colour in her cheeks to paint a London bus.

--

Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed (or not so) this. We writers live for it :P

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	10. Each other's arms

Love Hina: Deserted

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I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment, constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the galaxy, so please help me out!

Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here

* * *

Thanks for all the reviews. I won't be responding individually as usual because I have been under the weather. I barely got this written. I only did it because I know I let you guys down with the huge waits. I appreciate the reviews, almost 100 so far, so I know I have to keep going. I now have a proofreader! Thanks to TheFirstWaltz. My most sincere thanks to her, I'm sure this is far, far more readable thanks to her efforts.

I'm planning on making the next chapter soon and making it long. These words are cheap of course, but we will see.

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Chapter 10:

Each Other's Arms.

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The light was soft as they moved through the entrance into the building. The walls were coloured deeply, and seemed to soak up the light, which was not too strong in itself. The entire area was more glowing than lit, but it suited the restaurant. The restaurant was large, but crammed full of tables, with partitions so that people felt more secluded. The chairs were big heavy wooden ones that added to the feel of the place. Moving around was hard, and the aisles were more mazes than paths, but the staff slid through with an obviously practised ease, each dressed in a costume that was their uniform with their customers following behind clumsily. Keitaro and Shinobu stood at just inside the doorway, taking in the restaurant. The door closed behind them with a muffled bang and a shudder.

Around the restaurant there were a variety of people. Families with small children gleeful at being served food, and plenty of couples sat together-Keitaro realised that he and Shinobu were one of those couples. He smiled slightly. A waitress came over, asking them to follow her to a table. Shinobu grasped Keitaro's hand as she led them to a small, cosy corner table, and smiled somewhat knowingly at Keitaro before giving them laminated menus covered in a huge range of meals. Keitaro moved his legs around the table's legs, and found that the table was small enough so that his legs always touched Shinobu's. Not that either of them minded, of course. Keitaro ordered drinks, and they began to talk. At first, they both felt rather awkward, finding it hard to think of anything to talk about. Shinobu in particular was taking great pains to try and avoid mentioning the other girls; she wanted his attention on her. She smiled inwardly at her own forwardness, even if it was only internally.

The ground was hard and cold: the snow all around made crouching and kneeling a very wet and generally cold business, even if you were well wrapped up. Despite this, Motoko persevered. However much she believed in fair play, intelligence was a vital part of any competition, and she applied that to love as much as anything else. Keitaro and Shinobu appeared to be on the move towards a table. Awkwardly, Motoko moved over to the next window and tracked them, making sure not to be seen by anyone; explaining this one would be extremely difficult.

Seta sat at a table with Haruka opposite him, Cigarette in hand, trails of smoke floating upwards towards an extractor fan. She guessed that was the reason why they were put at this table, putting aside the young waiter that had obviously spotted her cigarettes. Smart kid. On the other hand, she looked across at Seta. He sat, holding a week-old newspaper with a hole in it for his eye, looking over at Keitaro and Shinobu's corner, while shifting around, mumbling about how he couldn't see. She sighed quite loudly, then pulled out her fan and slapped him around the head.

"The only thing that stupid newspaper does for you is make you look more conspicuous." She chided Haruka sighed again, then adding; "I should have known there was another motive behind you brining me out for dinner."

"But it feels more... spy-ey..." Grumbled Seta, putting the paper away and looking sheepish.

Kitsune, Su, Sara, and Mutsumi all stood on the far side of the restaurant's grounds, all clustered around the monitor in Su's hands.

"I still don't see why we have to be in the cold." Muttered Kitsune.

"I told you! The range on the camera is limited, so we have to be close. But if we go too close, they'll see us." Su lectured, flicking a joystick expertly to change the angle for a better view.

Mutsumi stood stroking Yuki, who sat in her arms quite contentedly.

The evening continued with Keitaro and Shinobu blissfully unaware of the many eyes that tracked their every move. Keitaro did have the impression he was being watched, and, much to Motoko's dismay, kept on turning around to check out of the window, where he felt he was being stared at from. Fortunately, Motoko was good at ducking quickly.

Mutsumi felt Yuki suddenly tense a little, and looked up to see a young waitress carrying (rather unstably) a rather large bag of rubbish, which smelled rather strongly of fish. Yuki twitched once, and then sprang out of Mutsumi's arms, straight towards the (rather unfortunate) young waitress.

The small cat flew at some speed, jumping and latching onto the bag, which ripped open, dropping rubbish from the restaurant all over the place as the waitress back-pedalled wildly into the restaurant, finally falling over with an almighty crash.

The ensemble of spies ran haphazardly towards the open door, calling out for Yuki.

Inside the door was a scene of chaos. The door led into the kitchen, where the waitress lay groaning on the floor, covered in food waste. Everyone stared. The entire kitchen was covered as if the bag had exploded; the rubbish had gone everywhere. Every cupboard and pot was covered, everyone was looking bedraggled in packaging and rotting food. All of the food being prepared was ruined. The room was completely silent.

Then all hell broke loose.

Everyone started shouting at the waitress, who shouted back and blamed the would-be spies, who were at this point standing right by the door and gesturing wildly at Yuki, who was now moving into the main restaurant, licking himself clean.

In the restaurant, Keitaro once again felt his 6th sense spike. Sure that he was being watched again, he turned quickly.

Motoko was watching Keitaro and Shinobu when an argument erupted from the kitchens. Startled, she turned to see what was going on just as Keitaro turned around.

Keitaro saw Motoko right behind him, less than a metre away through the window, and nearly jumped out of his skin, screaming. This bought Motoko firmly back to him, where she turned bright red and froze solid.

Then he heard shouts from the kitchen, and turned to see Kitsune, Su, Sara and Mutsumi being shepherded out of the restaurant by the Chef, who looked _extremely_ angry. In front of them walked Yuki, who jumped up onto Seta's lap, ruining his 'cover'.

"Y-Y... You guys?" He stuttered at Kitsune, Su, Sara, and Mutsumi, "And you?" He asked, directing the question at Seta and Haruka.

"You know these people?" The Chef asked both Keitaro and Shinobu before glaring at Seta and Haruka. "Right. Out! All of you! Out!"

Keitaro paced gently up and down the carpet in front of the others, who all sat looking downwards in front of him. Shinobu stood behind Keitaro in silence, looking upset.

Keitaro took long, lingering steps down a straight path parallel to the group beside him. He held his forehead in his hand, rubbing his temples slowly, his face set in a dark expression. He continued to just pace for a moment, walking an almost exact distance, before pivoting gently and continuing back the other way.

"You are telling me that you, Motoko, were trying to see how the Chef was cooking, you four..." (He motioned at Su, Sara and Mutsumi) "Were walking Yuki, and you two..."(He directed this statement at Seta and Haruka)"Were simply out for a meal?" Asked Keitaro quietly.

Various confirmations came from the group before him.

"Right..." said Keitaro. Turning towards Shinobu, he asked, "Do you want to go and sleep now? It's pretty late; I'll sort out this lot."

Shinobu nodded and walked upstairs. She thought about having something to drink before sleeping, and turned back. Just as she reached the stairs, a shout rang through the building.

"Bullshit!" Shouted Keitaro, as everyone flinched. Shinobu quietly sat down at the top of the stairs, back against the end of the banister, facing the wall, and listened.

"Since _when_ does the chef cook inside the restaurant rather than the kitchen? Since _when_ do you take a cat for a walk? Since _when _do you take her out for dinner?" Asked Keitaro, his tone rising as he went along.

"I couldn't care less that you spied on us, I couldn't care less that you ruined my meal, but what I damn well do care about," Said Keitaro with a breath before continuing, "Is Shinobu. That meant the world to her, and what have you lot done? Ruined it. For what reason? So that you could satiate your curiosity? May I remind you that it is Shinobu who is keeping us all here at her own expense, Shinobu who feeds us, and Shinobu who cares about us all. And do you appear to care about any of that?" Keitaro shook his head, and looked on them all with some disdain, before walking off smartly towards the stairs.

The words stung as they hit the group. Motoko felt them doubly hard. She got up, and, stone faced, walked off to her room, where she put her head in her hands and let her shame wash over her, realising just how selfish she had been in trying to pursue Keitaro: selfish and foolish. She had seen something in Keitaro's eyes when he was speaking then. He loved Shinobu. Whole heartedly. He may not even know it yet, but it was obvious.

Shinobu sat where she was as Keitaro walked up the stairs. When he got to the top, he almost walked past her in the dark. So she slowly reached out and brushed his leg with her hand, letting him know she was there. She stood and looked into his eyes before going up on tiptoe to kiss him. Keitaro was taken aback slightly, recoiling, but then returned the kiss.

The two walked along slowly, coming to Shinobu's room. Shinobu turned to go in, and Keitaro made a move to continue down the hallway towards his own room. But Shinobu held him in place, stopping him from continuing.

"I don't want to..." Said Shinobu quickly, blushing, "Just..." She attempted to clarify without success. Keitaro nodded and came in. The two of them laid down on her bed, still in the clothes they had been out in, and fell asleep in each other's arms.

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Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed (or not enjoyed) this. We writers live for it :P


	11. It hits you

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Love Hina: Deserted

I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment; constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the sun, so please help me out!

* * *

Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here.

Another chapter so soon? I kid you not ladies and gentlemen. My apologies for my lateness so far, but I'm hoping to update much faster in the future, so consider this a sign of things to come! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, it should be interesting.

Major Mike Powell III:

Indeed. Thanks for sticking with the story (and being so quick to read, and review!). I've got over 20,000 hits, 20,000 words, 100 reviews, 30 favourites, and 50 alerts - it's looking good so far :P. Glad you liked that chapter, and I hope this one continues the trend.

LonewolfBloodstorm:

Oh, it'll happen... Simply a matter of time.

Chibi-Chipmunk on Crack:

Glad you are here to read again. Sorry for the delays, as I said, I'm hoping to start really churning them out now.

NefCanuck:

Indeed. Now is your chance to find out!

And again, my deepest thanks to TheFirstWaltz - improving the story no end with her efforts.

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And that's it, less reviews than usual, but I only put the other chapter up a day or so ago, so I understand why :P

Chapter 11:

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It hits you...

Keitaro woke slowly, his eyes darting open to a bright blur. He blinked several times before squinting, becoming acclimatised to the light. The sheets around him were rumpled and pulled in odd directions, a soft white in the morning. Streaks of bright sunlight glared up at him when he looked down; streaks that stretched from the windows, over his legs, and then...

Over Shinobu's.

Keitaro took into account the beautiful woman lying next to him, her chest slowly rising and falling with the gentle motions of her breathing. Her blue hair lay around her head, a contrast to the white sheets around her, making her look like an angel glowing in clean light. Keitaro gently kissed her forehead, stroking her hair. He continued to lie there, content to simply be so near to the beauty that was Shinobu Maehara – maybe she would be Shinobu Urashima one day.

Keitaro's mind caught a second after that. Marriage? Did he really think about Shinobu like that? He hadn't even returned her feelings properly yet, and somehow he was fantasising about marrying her?

Keitaro sighed inwardly, wondering at the pace his life was suddenly moving at. All those years ago, when he was a second year ronin coming to this inn – Well, if he had been told he would end up here, thinking about marrying Shinobu, the cute little girl he knew, who had become a big-shot business owner while he was an out-of-work homeless person, eventually living off of her, what would he have said? Probably disbelief that anyone could even think up such a twist of fate. Back then, only Naru was the centre of his attentions.

Keitaro's mouth formed a grim line on his face. Naru Narusegawa. He would never forget that name. She had caused him so much pain and suffering, it was unimaginable. He changed his line of thoughts – he'd much rather think about Shinobu. His mind wandered though, and he did think about his current jobless state. He decided at that point he would get a job, or go somewhere to study – he couldn't live off of Shinobu forever with a clear conscience – and if he did want to propose in the future, he would need a job, he mused.

Inwardly, he laughed at himself. Proposal. It was a bit far ahead to be thinking of such things, but Shinobu had that effect on him. Maybe she meant more to him than he had dared to think before...

Keitaro moved a little and felt the stiffness and slight uncleanliness of waking up in the clothes he had been wearing the evening before. Shinobu's eyes fluttered open at his movement.

Shinobu awoke when she felt a slight pressure on her leg. Opening her eyes, she saw Keitaro lying next to her, stroking her hair gently and smiling broadly.

"Sorry I woke you." He said softly, tilting his head forward so his forehead laid on hers.

"Not at all, it's nice to wake and see you there." Said Shinobu, blushing ever so slightly.

Keitaro moved so he could kiss her on the nose, and did so, which provoked a small giggle, causing the edge of his mouth to twitch upward into a grin.

Shinobu twisted so she could read the time off her clock, and as she did so, her breasts pressed against her clothes. Keitaro was instantly aroused, which in turn reminded him of the fact that he had just spent the night with Shinobu: wasn't that rather bold? 'I mean, nothing happened...'He reasoned with himself internally, 'But it could look bad to others, and it seems like a big step in our relationship...'

"I'm so late getting up! I need to make breakfast!" Shinobu worried, sitting up.

"Don't worry about it. They are getting free accommodation from you; they can make their own breakfast for once." Said Keitaro, "Besides... I want to stay like this for longer... Saying that, it might look kind of bad if you and me both come down at the same time..." Keitaro mused, unhappy at the implications of what he said.

"I'll go." Said Shinobu simply, kissing him again before moving over to the door.

"Will anyone notice if you are in the same clothes as yesterday?" Keitaro asked.

"Oh!" Shinobu exclaimed, before moving over the get some clothes. Halfway there, she had a thought: 'Is he going to stay there while I get changed?!' Shinobu had no qualms with Keitaro seeing her getting changed – she loved him deeply, but even the thought of it embarrassed her so much she thought she would die on the spot. She turned completely red and picked out some clothes. She started to undress slowly, but she had only started for a second when Keitaro quickly noticed

"I'll go outside while you change!" He said quickly, then exited fast.

Shinobu sighed, and some of the colour drained from her cheeks. She was pretty sure she would have had a heart attack if he had watched her getting changed.

Outside, Keitaro was stifling a nosebleed. 'Was she actually going to change with me in there?' He wondered. He never expected Shinobu to be so bold. He almost wished he had stayed and watched, but he valued her privacy, and didn't want things to move too fast. 'Somewhat ironic, considering you were considering marriage this morning, is it not?' He asked himself, but shrugged off the question.

Shinobu opened the door shortly after that, and, after checking no one was around, kissed him again before going off downstairs. Keitaro quickly moved to his room, and was getting changed in there when there was a knock on his door. He quickly finished getting changed, and opened it to find Motoko stood there.

"Can I come in?" She asked

"Of course." Keitaro said, inviting her in.

Motoko walked in, eyeing the neatly made bed that had obviously not been slept in, but she made no comment on the matter.

"Gomen nasai!" She said, dropping into a low bow. "I was wrong, and very selfish to spy on you and Shinobu! My honour has been tarnished, and nothing can change that, but please forgive me."

Keitaro was shocked. For Motoko to be so apologetic was... unheard of. He stepped forward, amazed to see her flinch, and put his hands on her shoulders, pulling her up.

"Of course I forgive you!" He said, hugging her. "Motoko, you, and everyone here are my good friends, and I'd never hold a grudge against you. I was just upset that Shinobu was upset."

Motoko smiled softly, "Thank you.You are too kind to us all, I shall go and apologise to Shinobu."

Motoko turned and walked out. Her mind was racing. She was glad that Keitaro accepted her as a friend, but that still stung her – she had wanted more than friendship. She shook herself mentally – she knew that was coming from the start. What surprised her more was the unused bed. Had they slept together? It seemed unlikely, and many other things could have happened, but still…Motoko wondered. She slapped herself mentally again – she was beginning to think like Kitsune.

Keitaro went downstairs for breakfast when Shinobu called, as did the other residents, who all looked happy at seeing food on the table. The group ate and talked, but no one mentioned the day before. Motoko and Shinobu were talking fine, so apparently she had talked to her before he came down.

After eating, he went into the kitchen with the dishes to help wash up while talking to Shinobu.

"I was thinking, do you want to go shopping today to make up a little for yesterday?" Keitaro asked.

"That'd be great! I have a few things I want to get." Said Shinobu, looking happy.

"If you want to go and get stuff ready, I'll finish up here. It's no problem, really." He said, quashing any objections she had. He was happy to see her excited about it. He quickly finished then went up to get some stuff together himself before coming back down to meet Shinobu by the door.

They walked along at a slow pace, content to talk about random things and simply be with each other. It was a nice day; the sun was bright, and there was a gentle breeze, making it very refreshing. Keitaro felt like he had a lot of energy all of a sudden.

Coming to a crossing in the road, they stopped for the traffic to die down.

"I was thinking last night... or rather, this morning…" Keitaro began, unsure of how to phrase what he was about to say. He stalled while they began to walk across, "I think..." He trailed off again and stopped walking. " I love you." He said decisively, looking up to see her reaction. Shinobu turned on the spot, eyes wide, open shock on her face.

That was when the car hit.

Keitaro saw it a millisecond before. It was white, and it had obviously been speeding down the road. When Shinobu turned, he saw it going towards her, but he was far away, and had no time. He could do nothing.

It was a sickening thud among a screech of brakes being slammed on. Her body was lifted off the road as the car hit her. She was lifted onto the bonnet of the car, where her head slammed into the glass, smashing it, then she rolled over the roof and landed on the road, her arm bent underneath her in an impossible position.

Keitaro moved with more speed than ever before. He ran forward, jumping onto his knees, skidding across the road, which ripped open his trousers and shreded his knees. He did not care.

"SHINOBU!" He screamed.

Keitaro sat alone in on the cold steel chair he had been given, next to her bed in the hospital. Head in his hands, he saw the ambulance at the scene, the look on the paramedic's faces – the look of dread that she was already dead. The white car with the shattered windscreen and bright smatterings of red blood along it. Shinobu. Lying there.

He shivered, feeling deathly cold inside.

The doctors had performed surgery, and had kept her alive, but she was in a coma. He looked at her now. Her pelvis had been shattered by the impact, and she had taken serious head trauma when she hit the windscreen – they had shaved her head for the surgery. One of her arms and both her legs had multiple fractures. The doctors said she might never wake up, and if she did, there was a high chance of amnesia; that she would never walk again, and that she would be infertile.

He sat in the stark white room. There was little noise, the beeping of Shinobu's heart monitor a sharp pitch that pierced his heart with every note, and then filled him with dread at every silence. The room was clinically clean, all white and steel, no warmth.

Keitaro had been crying ever since the incident, and he continued now. He felt nothing would stop his tears, but he had responsibilities. Stroking the side of Shinobu's cheek, he rang home.

"It's Keitaro" He said bluntly.

"Hey there! How are the two lovebirds?" Answered Kitsune playfully, not recognising his tone.

"Shinobu is in a coma. She was hit by a car. We are at the hospital. You should come." Keitaro said simply, still sobbing into the phone. He was devoid of any strength to say more, and hung up.

The girls arrived shortly afterwards. Su and Sara were unnaturally subdued, devoid of their usual life, and everyone else was shell-shocked. Motoko walked over and hugged Keitaro tightly, as did Mutsumi and Kitsune. Seta and Haruka stood, Haruka looking odd without her usual cigarette. Motoko asked quietly how it happened, and Keitaro described it, speaking softly, devoid of life.

"I spoke to her, and that's when the car hit. She stopped because I spoke." He said, looking up with an almost manic look in his eye: a look of pain and sorrow.

"You want to know what I said?" Asked Keitaro, louder. "What I said that put her in A COMA!" He said, slowly rising to a shout: an echoing shout filled with remorse.

"I love you. I said... I love you..." He broke down into tears again.

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The group of friends looked on with horror and pity.

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Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed this; we writers live for it :P


	12. So we wait

Love Hina: Deserted

I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment; constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the sun, so please help me out!

Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here.

* * *

Oh, now you are just all making me feel really cruel! Then again, maybe I am for doing that . I guess it's good I evoked some emotions – that means I'm doing it right, right? :P I am really surprised by the amount of emotion that you have all shown because of the latest chapter, and I hope it's a sign you like it, although a few people seem to feel I have sinned greatly. My apologies, just keep reading. More thanks to TheFirstWaltz for proof-reading. I'm really speeding it up now, so look forward to more soon!

* * *

pak40:

Not every story can be happy all the time. Thank you for rating my story so highly to begin with, I'm sorry you are not a fan of plot twists. Please keep reading.

Tsaka:

I don't know quite what you mean by more _sufficient_ words, but thanks for the comment. Here is the continuation.

darksideofthehearth:

As they say, life isn't fair.

Sweet Heavens:

I wasn't aware I had rushed anything. A lack of detail? What money are you referring to? Would you care to elaborate?

Starfire99:

You are meant to hate it! :P

chibi-chipmunk-on-crack:

Stop making me feel bad!

Nick-kun:

Glad you liked it (plenty of others didn't .)

NefCanuck:

Yeah. Thanks for the comment.

JonJ:

Oh, but if Keitaro had taken this hit, it would have been less tragic, seeing as he is immortal. As to Naru, I have confirmed that she will be in the story – it is a matter of time. Glad you enjoy the story.

Warbender:

Never loose hope – I have made a promise that I won't abandon this (and if I really had to for some amazing reason, like I was dying, I'd let you all know I couldn't complete it). Admittedly, such words are cheap – so I'll just try and keep your faith with more regular updates. I'm sure you won't complain. Thank you very much for the high praise. I'm sure a lot of the improvements you mention are no doubt due to TheFirstWaltz – who I once again must thank (seriously, not only is she doing great beta reading, but she is getting it done fast – I'm sure you guys appreciate that).

LonewolfBloodstorm:

I'm hoping you are talking about the situation, not my writing :P.

Major Mike Powell III:

I feel like the person who drove the car! (I guess I was, in a way /). Hope the shock is good shock not 'I'm never reading this again' shock.

Nysk:

Heh. That's the summary of it. Pretty harsh, I admit.

Kampretzz:

Thanks for the heads-up – Fixed.

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Chapter 12:

So we wait...

* * *

Tick.

Keitaro sat in the white, sterile room, gently holding Shinobu's limp hand, and watching over her. His vision wavered, but he held fast. He had been sitting in this room for the two days since the accident. He had not done anything since except watch over Shinobu, waiting for any sign. The doctors had told him he would do nothing by being there, and would do best just to go home and rest, but he refused. He had not left her side since the incident. The staff were unhappy about having someone staying permanently, but one of the Doctor's daughter's worked for Shinobu, and idolised her, so it seemed. She and her father had pulled strings to allow Keitaro to remain.

Tock.

The clock was sat up on the wall, and with every motion it defined another second of agony for Keitaro. He sat, his fear that Shinobu would never wake increasing a little.

Tick.

Keitaro had been struggling to keep his eyes open for some time now. He had drunk copious amounts of coffee, but even so, he had been awake far too long after (and during) such stressful times. The doctors were shocked that he was still anywhere near conscious.

Tock.

Keitaro knew he would go soon. His mind was so fuzzy. But he clung to the one thing that he had: his fear that he would loose her. His strength was drawn by this very idea.

Tick.

Keitaro fought it. He would not leave her 'til she woke. No matter what.

Tock.

Keitaro's body could no longer hold out. He screamed in his mind, but his body shut down.

Tick.

Keitaro collapsed into a heap on the floor.

Tock.

Keitaro woke in his room. His eyes slowly opened and he lay still, trying to think. He felt weak, both mentally and physically. He felt as though his heart had been ripped out. He looked around, and saw Motoko walk in.

"You are up!" Motoko said, moving quickly over to give him a hug. Keitaro held her tightly, thankful of the friendship she had shown with the simple gesture. "It's been 16 hours since we got you from the hospital." She continued simply, "You were..."

"16 hours?" Keitaro interrupted, "Shinobu, has she...?"

"No change." Motoko said solemnly, looking down.

Keitaro pulled his head back, sighing and running his hand through his hair. 'How come when I have lost everything, the one thing I don't loose is sadness.' he thought, clenching his other hand into a fist and punched the floor with some force, making Motoko jump a little.

"Let's go down and eat. You haven't eaten for too long. Not properly, at least." Motoko said, trying to stop Keitaro from thinking about Shinobu. She knew it was futile; she was all any of them thought about.

"Yeah." said Keitaro wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

Keitaro came down and ate. The group came over and greeted him gently, each one avoiding saying anything in particular. They began to eat. A painful reminder that Shinobu was not the one who had cooked the food they were eating.

"I'm sorry Keitaro..." Kitsune suddenly burst out, "If we hadn't..."

"Kitsune!" Motoko scolded, "We talked about this, don't..."

"I have to say it!" Kitsune shouted, tears in her eyes. "If we hadn't have messed up your date the day before, you wouldn't have had to go out: it's all our fault."

"It's not your fault." Keitaro said simply, looking up at her.

"It..." Kitsune began again, determined to try and take the weight off of his shoulders, and relieve some of the guilt she felt.

"IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT!" Shouted Keitaro, staring deep into her eyes. "I asked her to go out that day, I said 'I love you' to her, and I didn't manage to get to her in time. If it's your fault for messing up the day before, then it is sure as hell my fault! Don't you get it?"

Kitsune looked down, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be... We all have to try and cope with this." Keitaro said meekly.

They continued to eat in silence.

The next two weeks were hell for everyone. No one wanted to do anything, and anything that had to be done was done quickly, so everyone did little except think about Shinobu. They visited as often as they could, talking about anything they could, playing music, anything. Everyone waited for anything to happen. Anything.

Keitaro moved down the stairs and wondered what he should do. But before he could bring any meaningful thoughts together, the phone rang. It took him a heat-beat to run over and pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Urashima-san? This is the hospital."

"Yes, has something happened with Shinobu?"

"I'm afraid she appears to have a stress ulcer – common with brain injuries. She is bleeding internally, she is currently in the theatre. If you would like to come down, that would be best."

"Of course,"

Keitaro hung up and stood for a second, shell-shocked. He was hoping she had woken up, not gotten worse. He shouted out to the others, and explained the situation.

Keitaro burst through the doors into where Shinobu was. She was lying on the bed, and appeared to be alive. He ran over and hugged her gently, careful not to put any real pressure on her.

The doctor stood near and chose then to speak.

"We managed to stop the bleeding. She should live." He said, taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Keitaro looked over to him. "Thank you." He said simply.

"Not at all." The doctor said, "As they say, 'it's my job'."

Keitaro gave a hollow laugh and looked back down to Shinobu.

The rest of the group all thanked the doctor, and went off to give Keitaro some time alone with Shinobu.

Shinobu had recovered physically a fair deal; her hair had grown back to a short length, but she had yet to show any sign of waking. The doctors said it was unlikely she would just wake up, but rather become semi-comatose, and then wake up, then take a while to return back to normal – and that was if she ever woke up. She might not even ever return to normal. It was a daunting prospect.

Keitaro was holding her hand, slowly rubbing his thumb in small circles around the back of her hand. He absentmindedly stared at her face.

"I love you Shinobu" He said softly, drooping his head.

That was when he felt her hand twitch.

His heart jumped, and then he realised it was probably just another muscle spasm. It had happened before and was common.

He looked back to her face and was shocked to see her eyes fluttering open. He felt her grip onto his hand. Not just twitch, but a grip.

Keitaro felt heat return to his body. He looked into her eyes.

Keitaro could tell, at that moment, that it was going to be all right.

He looked into her eyes and she looked back. This was no blank semi-comatose stare that he had been told to expect, it was her looking at him.

Shinobu spoke then.

"You love me?"

"I love you" Keitaro chocked out, still unbelieving. He quickly called over the doctor, who, with shock plastered on his face, did a number of tests, asking Shinobu to look at his pen while moving it, asking her where she was and what had happened.

"Well. You appear to be absolutely fine, as far as I can tell. You will need to take things very easy for now, and there may be effects we have not noticed yet, but at least to a basic sense, you are far, far better than we could have hoped for."

Keitaro kissed Shinobu passionately, happy beyond what he felt able to describe.

"I need to tell the others." He said shortly, smiling at her.

"Of course." Replied Shinobu, smiling.

Keitaro got on the phone quickly; wanting to end everyone else's suffering. Motoko picked up the phone, and he said quickly, trying to convey the message as quickly as possible, "Shinobu is awake, she is fine!" Keitaro heard the phone drop the other end, and Motoko shouting to the other residents, before she picked up the phone to say,

"We will be over right away."

There was a click, and Keitaro went back over to Shinobu.

"They all sounded ecstatic!" He said, grinning, "And rightfully so! After two weeks we were all scared you'd never wake up, especially after this morning."

Shinobu blushed slightly at his first comment, before looking shocked and confused "Two weeks? What happened this morning?"

Keitaro forgot she was 'out-of-the-loop', so to speak, and quickly filled her in on what had happened.

"I'm sorry I caused you so much worry!" Shinobu said, tears at her eyes.

"It's not your fault! I shouldn't have said it while you were crossing..." Keitaro said, also beginning to cry a little.

"I only woke up because you said that." Shinobu said, looking deep into Keitaro's eyes and becoming more serious. "At one point you know, I decided whether I wanted to live or die. I remember that. I promised myself I would live for one reason – that you loved me."

Keitaro had nothing he felt he could say to that.

Kitsune, on the other hand, did. "How romantic!" She said, grinning madly.

"When did you get in?" Said Shinobu, blushing and jumping, which, unfortunately for her, caused a lot of pain.

"Itai!" Shinobu gasped as what she could only describe as fire blasted down her body.

"Ah, I didn't mean to shock you!" Said Kitsune, running over.

After Shinobu had recovered from her momentary pain, everyone congratulated her on waking up.

A few weeks later, Shinobu was being pushed along in a wheelchair by Keitaro out of the hospital. Her pelvis, legs, and arm had still not fully healed,

but other than that, she looked a lot better. Her hair had grown almost to her ears, so although not as long as she liked to have it, was better than before.

Everyone started to live again. Hinata was lively and fun, back to the way it should always be. The pain of waiting was forgotten as things started to return more to normal. Shinobu regained use of her other arm, so she could now move by herself in the wheelchair, and her legs, while still in casts, were slowly healing.

Keitaro walked over to the kitchen, and then leaned on the door frame for a while, content to watch Shinobu as she prepared a meal, humming slightly, He smiled softly, then walked in and hugged her.

"Anything I can do?" He asked.

"Sure!" Shinobu said, happy that he was there.

They worked together quietly, happy just to be together.

After everyone ate, Keitaro took Shinobu to her room. Until then, Motoko had been carrying Shinobu up to her room, and getting her into bed. Keitaro decided to do it that night. Making sure he had her in a comfortable position, he lifted her up, and started carrying her up the stairs, careful not to make any sudden movements or do anything that would cause her pain. Shinobu nestled her head into his chest slightly, and he blushed a little.

"Thank you, Senpai" Shinobu said, smiling warmly as he put her down on her bed.

"Uh... Normally Motoko puts on my pyjamas for me, I still can't..." Shinobu trailed off, blushing.

"Oh, I'll go and get her for you." Said Keitaro, blushing a little.

"No... I mean, If you don't mind, I don't mind..." Shinobu's voice became quieter, her face reddening. "You doing it..." She finished, turning red enough to paint every London bus in existence.

Keitaro's mind froze. The idea of stripping Shinobu before clothing her was... Keitaro shook himself mentally. He loved Shinobu, and she needed help. He had to help her.

Frankly, he thought, he would rather be doing that than pretty much anything else in the universe.

"Sure..." Keitaro mumbled, moving closer.

Shinobu's breath caught. She couldn't believe she had been so forward. Keitaro was going to see her completely naked. She looked at him as he began to undress her, slowly, careful not to make it uncomfortable. She was now in her underwear, and Keitaro reached around her, their faces only centimetres apart, and unclasped her bra.

Keitaro breathed heavily. Shinobu's exquisite form was right underneath him, clad only in underwear that he was now taking off. He had never even dreamt of something that was as hot as this to him.

He steeled himself. Shinobu needed his help to get changed – he had to do that, and be honourable about it. He quickly removed both pieces of underwear and put on her nightdress. He thanked God that it was easy to put on; he could barely contain himself for the few seconds she was exposed. He had, unavoidably, looked at her while she was naked, and he honestly had never seen anything so beautiful. She had a lot of scars from the incident and surgery, but they didn't matter to him.

Shinobu was amazingly embarrassed and yet also turned on by the experience – she loved Keitaro, to have him so close while she was naked was intoxicating. She was scared that he would dislike her body. When she had seen it after waking, all swollen, bruised, and scarred, with little hair, she thought she was hideous. Admittedly, she had improved, but she still felt ugly, covered in scars.

"Am I ugly?" She asked out loud.

Keitaro was amazed by the question, "No! You are beautiful, the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!"

"I'm not! I'm scarred and in casts and in a wheelchair – who would want to date me?" She whimpered, letting out her fears.

"I would." Keitaro said, simply, kissing her. "I don't care if you have scars, you are still beautiful. More beautiful than anyone. Besides – I love you no matter how you look."

"Thank you." Shinobu said, her fears quashed.

Keitaro got up and left, looking in to see Shinobu asleep already, worn out by the day. He smiled a little, and then walked off to his room.

* * *

To all those annoyed about the plot twist before: I hope you are OK again now. I was never planning on turning this in a tragedy – nor, as my proof-reader (TheFirstWaltz) pointed out, another overdone amnesia story. Just keeping you all guessing. See you next time!

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Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed this; we writers live for it :P


	13. Off we go

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Love Hina: Deserted

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I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment; constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the sun, so please help me out!

Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here.

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Hello to you all! I realise it had taken me longer again, so please do forgive me. It has only been 6ish weeks though, so not too bad. Still, what you get for it is the longest chapter I have posted so far, so hopefully you'll be happy with that. Enjoy the read.

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Major Mike Powell III:

Thanks for your continued reading & reviewing. Naru is not here yet, hope you enjoy this arc.

Warbender:

Sorry for worrying you. This chapter is longer, so I hope you like this one. Enjoy.

Un-brit:

Indeed, I am English, born and bred. I'm afraid I'm not planning on a lemon for this. There may be sex, but not anything explicitly described. Sorry if I disappoint. Not to say it won't be going anywhere _interesting_, read on.

Motorized-sasquatch:

Sorry for making you think it died. Glad you like the comeback.

Shinobufanboy:

Glad you are happier again. This chapter is a nice one for Shinobu, I think.

Starfire99:

Indeed. Naru has done Keitaro a lot of wrong in this story. Things will happen. But not quite yet. Onwards!

JonJ:

Indeed, I'm not heartless enough to kill her off or anything. You might be right on your guess there, I hope you enjoy the chapter. (Whose Line rocks. Nice to see another watcher.)

pak40:

No problem, glad the story got to you enough to make you emotive enough to give such a comment. Indeed, Shinobu is great.

NefCanuk:

Glad you liked it. Indeed, a point I concede. Glad I have a large number of readers (24564 hits as of the time of writing).

Chibi-Chipmunk on Crack:

Not at all. Thanks for the reinforcement. Enjoy this chapter.

Dom12:

Naru may be pretty evil, but I'm pretty sure she isn't trying to murder Shinobu in this story, quite yet, at the very least. :P

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Chapter 13:

Off we go...

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Keitaro was in the kitchen washing dishes. It was not an amazing chore, but he did it anyway. It was helping out Shinobu, who had finally got out of her wheelchair and was now on crutches. She was still doing physiotherapy, but it was slowly working, and she'd be back to normal soon. Keitaro scrubbed a plate around a few times, holding it up to try and check in the light whether it was completely clean. Satisfied, he rinsed it off and put it aside ready to be dried, reaching in for the next dish.

Keitaro's mind wandered while at his task. Everyone had been shaken by Shinobu's accident, but life had returned to the status-quo over the last few weeks. Keitaro had been with Shinobu much more than he had ever been in the past. They were doing more things together. They were really a couple.

The rest of the girls had been treating them carefully. They were all a bit saddened by Keitaro's new unavailability and Shinobu not being around as much (for one, they had to cook more, which somewhat lowered the standard of meals), but they were all happy for the pair of them. They had been through a lot, and it was good they could get on and be happy. Still, there was a level of jealousy.

Keitaro reached into the water again, and felt nothing, moving his hand around he realised there was nothing else in the sink. Pulling the plug out quickly he reached for the towel behind him to find it gone, and a grinning Su stood with it in her hands.

"Want some help Keitaro?" She said, throwing a second towel to him. Keitaro raised an eyebrow at this. Su, helping out with a chore? It seemed rather unnatural, but Keitaro was not one to pass up on some help, and so accepted.

"Sure" he confirmed, grabbing a plate and beginning to dry it off, with Su repeating the motion with another.

"So, Keitaro, you sleeping with Shinobu yet?" Su asked, rather normally, grinning a little. Keitaro almost dropped the plate he was holding, and blushed a deep red.

"Su... No! I mean..." He began, stuttering.

"You are so cute!" Su said, rubbing his hair. "You and Shinobu still act pretty young you know. Kinda naïve."

Keitaro realised how much Su had grown up. She had a responsible air about her he had never come to expect.

"You sound more like Kitsune every day..." He voiced. Su chuckled a little before continuing.

"I guess I have grown up a bit. I still like to have fun, but during the time we were gone from this place, I've been doing stuff.. I went back to Momol for a bit, and have been... getting on with stuff in general." Su said, somewhat haltingly. Keitaro guessed there was a lot more to this, but didn't push it.

"Don't loose your energetic side, Su, it'd be boring without you around." Keitaro said with a smile. At that, Su bashed him on the back of the head, and said in a more usual tone

"I'd never stop having fun!"

Keitaro smiled and went to pick up another item to dry, and found everything was gone.

"I guess sharing to workload gets the job done fast." He commented to Su, who nodded.

"Look, Keitaro, I actually wanted to talk to you about something. I was thinking about asking everyone about taking a trip to Momol. It is nice this time of the year, and after all Shinobu has been through, I think she could use a holiday. It'd help her relax and get better. It'd also help pay her back for looking after us all for all this time." Keitaro stopped and thought for a second.

"That sounds like a great idea! If Shinobu is up for it, and you can arrange it, I'm sure everyone would love to go!"

"Great! I'll start getting it set up!" Said Su, running off, obviously excited.

A week later everyone was packing their suitcases, excited for the upcoming trip. They were going via a private boat Su had chartered for two weeks. Keitaro was in Shinobu's room helping her pack.

"It was really nice of Su to set this all up." Keitaro commented, picking up a dress and folding it into the suitcase as per Shinobu's instruction.

"Yes." Shinobu began, smiling, "It'll be great to get away and have fun." She continued, her face forming a happy look, as if seeing Momol in the distance.

Keitaro moved over to Shinobu and hugged her, kissing her quickly. Shinobu blushed slightly, then giggled and went back to packing.

"Hmmm... I think this suitcase is full." Said Keitaro, moving over to another one.

"No!" Shinobu burst out, spinning quickly to look at him, "That one is full too." She said quickly.

"Oh, OK." said Keitaro looking quizzically at the suitcase for a second, but he put it aside and grabbed another to finish up with.

Everyone else had gotten ready, and so they joined the group, who all trooped out to the large taxi waiting outside. They had asked Seta along, but he was apparently busy with Haruka. Frankly, Keitaro felt a little relieved at the prospect of riding in his van having passed. He wanted Shinobu to get better, after all.

It was a medium length journey to the docks where Su's boat was docked. They group talked on a number of subjects, until Su cut in while Motoko and Mutsumi were discussing turtles, with an exuberant "We're here!". Everyone's head's flicked up to look out, and, indeed, the boat was waiting. It was sleek and streamlined, shining white, with the Momol flag waving in the wind on the prow. It was an impressive sight, and the group quickly boarded, getting out their luggage to get everything onto the boat. It was a very short walk, and was done quickly. Keitaro looked around a bit, before asking the question at the forefront of his mind.

"Su, are the crew not on-board yet?"

"Crew? I'm driving!" Su said with a large smile. Keitaro was not comforted, but he had been surprised yesterday by Su's maturity. It was going to be fine. He just couldn't help but have a slight bit of fear in his stomach.

Still, no real reason to be worried. How bad could it be?

Keitaro held on for dear life inside the ship, along with everyone else as the boat rocked so far that it simply had to turn over. He resisted the urge to throw up, bile in his throat. Su was quite obviously insane. The boat was going at speeds unknown to any other ship on the planet, and none of the passengers could handle it. Just then, there was a calm moment. A lull in the storm of motion. Keitaro held his breath, hoping it would all be over.

Nothing happened.

Keitaro released his breath as Su walked in. "Su!" He exclaimed, "We have been shaken like salad in here! Can you slow down?!" Su looked down a little and shuffled her feet.

"I may have overdone it a little. The engine is bust." she murmured.

Keitaro face palmed before asking "There is a backup right?"

"Yes," Su replied. "But it is slower."

"I'm sure we will manage." Keitaro interjected, as everyone else relaxed. Slower was just what they needed.

"And the main one is going to explode soon." Su finished.

Everyone's heads snapped up to look at her, before running out, Keitaro picking up Su, and grabbing the escape raft, pulling the cord to inflate it, and getting everyone on as fast as he possibly could. It was small, bright yellow, and not designed for the number of people on-board.

Everyone waited with bated breath as they moved further away from the Momol ship.

"Maybe you were wrong..." Keitaro began, hopeful. "If we go back for a..."

Keitaro was cut short by a massive explosion as the ship exploded. The waves caused by the explosion rocked the small dingy like a rubber duck in a bath, and suddenly, Keitaro and Shinobu were thrown off the life raft, suddenly underwater.

Keitaro looked around frantically, eyes stinging as the salty water attacked them. He saw Shinobu flailing under the water. He tried to swim towards her, but the water was ice cold, and his muscles froze in place. He tried again and grabbed her, quickly dragging her up to the surface. They had been pushed away by the explosion, aftermath, and the tides. Keitaro couldn't see the ship, dingy, or anyone else. He was glad he had grabbed Shinobu: he didn't know how well she could swim in her current state. He held her to him in the water, lying on his back. She had obviously fainted at the time, and was not in a good state. There was little he could do, so he lay on his back, and closed his eyes against the bright sun. Drifting gently in the water, he quickly fell asleep as the shock of the cold water and event caught up to him.

Shinobu woke up to the sensation of water lapping around her. She opened her eyes to bright sunlight, and attempted to sit up. She looked around, She was laying right next to Keitaro on a sandy beach. The sun was bright and hot, and the sea stretched for miles. There was no sign of anything on the island at all that would imply any human presence except for her and Keitaro. She gently shook Keitaro, who woke up and looked around, obviously pleased to see her. Keitaro stood up, and she followed suit, shakily. She still really needed her crutches, which had not stayed with her. Keitaro supported her quickly, wrapping an arm around her small waist and gently holding her steady.

"Do you think the others...?" Shinobu began, worried.

"They'll be fine" Said Keitaro, looking out to the sea. "See all of the bits of wreck and suitcases washing up here? If we and that lot all washed up here, they would too. If they haven't, they must all be on the raft and have probably been rescued by now. We just need to wait." Keitaro said carefully. In truth, he wasn't so sure, but he wanted to comfort Shinobu – who, indeed, looked much happier upon hearing this. He set her down in a comfortable position, and set off to collect their baggage. He managed to collect all of their suitcases. A stroke of luck if there ever was one. He had even packed a few bottles of water, which would help. They needed to get inland out of the sun, otherwise they'd be in trouble. It'd probably be worth putting on some sunscreen too. He helped Shinobu up, then they walked up the beach. It was hard for her. The sand was soft and took a lot of relative effort. Keitaro made a snap decision and picked her up, carrying her over to the more solid area, where the terrain switched from sand to earth. The island appeared to be a pretty standard Tropical island. There was dense forest towards the centre, with hilly regions in the middle. The island was pretty small side to side, but could be long: he could not tell the distance from his current location.

"I'm going to go and look for a water supply." He said, pulling a bottle of water from his bad. The contents of the suitcases were all soaked, but in one piece. He sorted out Shinobu's and his own bags, and put the rest to one side. Shinobu began emptying them, hanging them on tree branches to dry in the sun.

"Wait." She said, before he left. "These clothes are wet, and they're getting pretty cold in the shade." Shinobu shivered slightly, almost as if to emphasise the point. "Could you help me take them off, I'm not..." she trailed off. "Sure" said Keitaro, compassion in his eyes. This was the second time he'd be stripping Shinobu. Not something he would be complaining about.

After helping Shinobu out of her clothes carefully, he quickly left, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable.

Shinobu felt highly exposed naked, but she knew it was the best thing to do, and there was no one around, although if a search and rescue helicopter came along she would die from the embarrassment. Still, it felt nice to be naked in the sun, and she could get a tan. Keitaro might like that. She blushed deeply, and yet she was happy Keitaro liked her body. She gently traced one of the scars on her stomach with her hand, before sighing, and hanging up more of her clothes. As much as she loved Keitaro, she didn't think she could handle being nude with him for an extended period of time. She'd probably end up doing something very risky.

Keitaro spent a short amount of time going around the Island, but didn't manage to find anything – it became dark before long. He made his way back, collecting wood for a fire on the way, and found Shinobu sat drawing in the sand with a finger, clothes all around hung up to dry. They still looked very wet – apparently not enough time in the sun.

"Uh...I'm back." Keitaro said somewhat bashfully. Shinobu turned her head, wiping her hand through her drawing quickly and covering herself.

"The clothes are not dry yet." She said, blushing.

"It's OK, can't be helped." Said Keitaro, shivering a little.

"You are cold too; you should take those off." Shinobu said, smiling a little to herself.

"Urm... yeah." Keitaro said, and slowly undressed before sitting back to back with Shinobu. It was already very dark, and they looked at the stars together. He quickly set up a fire and lit it, glad he'd watched a program on TV with a British man called 'Ray Mears' doing this kind of thing. They both sat by the fire quietly, trying to avoid looking at each other, but catching the odd glance every now and then. After a while, they ran out of water. Keitaro offered the last bit to Shinobu.

"We do have this left." Said Shinobu, pulling out two bottles of sake from Kitsune's bag.

Keitaro and Shinobu had decided it was best not to get dehydrated, and so had decided to responsibly drink some of the sake.

They had drunk rather a lot.

"And it was this big!" Keitaro finished, somewhat triumphantly, stretching out his arms wide in a gesture, trying to enforce the punchline of the story. Shinobu laughed uncontrollably with him, even harder as he fell over, made unstable by his movement.

Shinobu crawled over. "You are drunk!" She accused, giggling a little. Keitaro took a second to make his comeback, which was, "So are you!"

Shinobu realised she had to admit he was right. She was probably just a little drunk.

Keitaro realised Shinobu was on her hands and knees over him, entirely naked, and he was lying beneath her, also completely unclothed. He blushed heavily, before looping his arms around her neck and pulling her in for a kiss, tasting the alcohol in her mouth.

Shinobu was surprised, but gave in to his attack, kissing back. She felt him run his hand down her body, stopping on her ass.

She realised she was incredibly turned on. This was Keitaro, the love of her life, right below her, kissing her, touching her...

Keitaro pulled back, looking into her eyes, with a slightly more fixed stare. "We shouldn't do this." he said softly, "We are a little drunk, and..." he began.

Shinobu silenced him with a kiss, but then pulled back. "You are right. Thank you." she said, kissing him softly again.

"Yeah... yeah... We should sleep." Keitaro said.

Keitaro woke the next morning with a thumping headache. By Shinobu's reaction to the noise of him getting up, he suspected she had it worse. He quickly got dressed into some of the clothing she had hung up – it was caked in a hard layer of salt, but he patted it off, and it was fine. He quickly did the same to some of her clothes, then left them by her, whispering that he was going off to find some water, and then leaving. This time he went in the opposite direction.

After only about ten minutes of walking he struck gold, a large lake with a small waterfall sat in front of him. He quickly took a sip to confirm it was freshwater, then rushed back to tell Shinobu. He got back to find her dressed, and looking rather run down.

"I found some water!"

The two had run (as fast as Shinobu could, with Keitaro supporting her) to the lake again, and taken long drinks. They quickly stripped, not wanting to get the only-just-dried clothes wet again, and then got in to the lake, The lake was constantly moving because of the waterfall, and it was very clear, as Keitaro was reminded every time he looked in Shinobu's direction. Shinobu went over to the waterfall and let it fall on her, feeling her headache almost literally wash away. It was a great feeling.

Keitaro watched with a certain awe. Shinobu stood in the waist-deep water, hair flat on her neck and back now, water cascading down her body, running along the shapely curves that made up her figure. The bright sunlight shone on the scene, and the water sparkled. She looked like a goddess. No, she was one.

Keitaro moved under the waterfall himself, washing himself. Once they were done, they carried their clothes back and laid out to dry off again. Now there was water, Keitaro suddenly felt a lot happier. With water, survival was now much more likely. That said, now water was sorted, he realised how hungry he was. Keitaro decided to go out and look, and quickly came across a number of animals near the water, along with a number of bushes and trees with fruit. He picked four pears of a tree and bit into one. It was delicious. He quickly moved back and passed one to Shinobu, who ate greatfully. It was not much, but in the circumstance, it was pretty good.

"Could you rub some sunscreen onto me, Senpai?" asked Shinobu, lying down. Keitaro obliged, pulling the bottle out of the bag. There was a little salt water in the bottle, but it seemed OK, so he applied the sunscreen. Shinobu then returned the favour. It was rather intimate, and they both appreciated it. They were both tanning pretty fast, Keitaro thought they were lucky to have tanned rather than burnt so far, considering how hot it was.

The island seemed habitable - for the moment, at least, so Keitaro was not as worried as he would have been, but he thought they should try to signal for help, so they decided to make a S.O.S. sign in the sand. They collected rocks, wood, and other random debris from around, and constructed the giant sign. It took a surprisingly long time, but they were happy with the end result. As the light started to fade. Keitaro started to collect more wood for a fire. He stayed near by to the area they had set up their impromptu 'camp' and collected wood, while talking. They decided they needed to construct some kind of shelter in case it rained, otherwise they would have major problems. Fortunately, it didn't look like it would be a problem for the moment. Once Keitaro had set up a reasonable fire, which would burn for a decent length of time, he laid down next to Shinbou, hugging each other tightly, both for warmth, and simply to be near each other.

They both fell asleep quickly.

* * *

Hope you liked it, I should write again soon, watch this space!

* * *

Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed this; we writers live for it :P

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	14. On the island

Love Hina: Deserted

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I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment; constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the sun, so please help me out!

* * *

Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here.

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Hello again! I'm sorry I made you all wait again, but my exams are over (huzzah!) and the summer beckons, so hopefully you'll see more coming out of me soon. This one is also almost 5k words long, about 3.5k being the length of the last one, which was the longest yet, so you are getting a little more for your time, at least. I'll try to release faster, but… Well, I have made my excuses before. Sorry again. Fewer reviews with the last chapter: I need to stop having massive waits, my apologies. I hope I haven't lost too many readers.

Sincere thanks yet again to TheFirstWaltz for her efforts with beta reading, apparently my grammar degraded too TT. Thanks for the hard work.

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Starfire99: I believe I answered you directly, but I'll say it again. It's not really a calculated thing. I am intentionally vague with timing because I honestly don't think I'd manage to keep a decent pace correctly. So we'll just presume Shinobu has had some of Keitaro's super-healing abilities rub off on her, along with some time passing. I know it isn't very realistic, but forgive me: artistic license.

Pak40: Thank you. Hope you like this one as well.

Motorized-sasquatch: Indeed. Here it is, sorry for the wait.

Major Mike Powell III: Glad you liked the way the plot is going, and I'm glad you like the story. You've been consistently reading and reviewing, so cheers for that. I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Shinobufanboy: Indeed. Who doesn't ;)

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Chapter 14:

On The Island...

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Keitaro woke to a sharp white light piercing his eyelids. He flicked his eyes open for a second, only managing to burn the sun into his vision for his efforts. Tilting his head until it faded a little, he opened his eyes again and saw the long beach stretching into the distance until it met the sea, and the tree line of the palms that thickly lined the edge of the island. The beach was thin; only ten or so metres down when the tide was in, but it seemed to stretch on for a long distance. Keitaro felt a little unnerved waking up like this. It was odd, especially the sand beneath him. It was very soft sand, with incredibly fine grains, but after sleeping on it overnight, it was irritating.

Still, Keitaro turned his head, and saw Shinobu. The sun, which was low in the sky as it rose, case a stark light over everything, but the sea glistened, and Shinobu positively glowed in the light. Keitaro noted that she had tanned a lot, and he had too. They'd have to ensure they made a shelter; otherwise they'd start burning. Apparently they had resilient skin, for the moment at least.

Keitaro sighed inwardly.

What a mess.

This was meant to have been a relaxing holiday to help Shinobu recover. He should have known with Su: she never did anything right. Keitaro frowned inwardly, realising he was being harsh. Su always had good intentions, and she had seemed more mature at the time. Still, maybe she thought this was a good way of getting Keitaro and Shinobu some time alone. He wouldn't put it past her to orchestrate something like this.

Keitaro got up carefully, slipping out from Shinobu's grip without waking her. He looked out over the ocean around them. The water was warm near the beach where it was shallow and the hot sun heated it, but father out it seemed a lot colder. Swimming somewhere was not an option, especially with Shinobu in the state she was, and there was no visible land in sight. The beach had fine sand, but every now and then a large pebble punctuated the miniature yellow dunes. The waves lapped up the beach, leaving a darker area, which was actually far easier to walk on, as it gave way less under your feet. This area had more pebbles, along with shells and seaweed, which strung in lengths up the beach, only to be reclaimed by the sea as it came in again.

Kneeling beside her, he brushed some sand off of her face, and brushed her hair gently out of her eyes before giving her a soft kiss on the forehead. Twisting, still on his knees, he gently traced words into the sand nearby with his index finger.

'At pool washing'

It would suffice. He then moved quickly, already accustomed to where he had to go. Kneeling down, he splashed water onto his face, then stripped quickly and got into the cool water. Cleaning himself off, he rubbed his stubble, realising he had no way to shave. Still, he could manage a beard more easily than a slit throat, so he decided to hold out on shaving for now. He dried off quickly with a shirt he had chosen to use as a towel, and then got dressed, heading back.

On the way, he passed by some thin trees that looked like they could be used to make a passable shelter. Not only that, but right beside it was what appeared to be a clearing. He took a look around to get his bearings, then continued back.

Back at their 'camp', Shinobu lay on the ground at a jarred angle, crying. Keitaro ran forward and moved down to her level, putting an arm around her and propping her up.

"Are you all right?" Keitaro asked fearfully, looking over her quickly, trying to spot the problem.

"Keitaro!" Shinobu cried, hugging him tightly, crying into his shoulder. Keitaro waited as she calmed down, cradling her, stroking her hair gently.

"I was so scared!" Shinobu began, sniffling still. "I got up and couldn't find you, and I was scared, and then my ankle twisted and it hurt so badly, and I didn't know where you were!"

Keitaro looked at the ground to see his message had been wiped away from the sand. Shinobu must have stood up on it! He cursed himself for his stupid placement of the message and consoled her.

"I should have realised you'd step on it." He finished, scratching the back of his head clumsily.

"No, it was my fault." Shinobu said, blushing and looking to the ground. "I panicked for no reason. I was just scared and alone."

"I won't ever leave you alone again." Keitaro said seriously. "I shouldn't have before. You are still not well enough to get around alone, especially in this sand without crutches..." He continued, lightening his tone a little, scratching the back of his head and laughing.

Shinbou looked at him, unspoken thanks in her eyes and hugged him tightly before rubbing her eyes dry and starting to stand up. Keitaro helped her as she pushed her way up from the sand. He supported her as they moved into the forested jungle area, where the ground was a little harder and easier for her to move on. It was a short trip, but supporting Shinobu and sinking into the sand made it a lot more tiring than one would expect. Carefully letting Shinobu get comfortable, he made sure the camp was in her line-of-sight, and then moved off to collect all of the suitcases and clothes. He picked half of them up and made his way back, before repeating. After those trips he was rather worn out. He sat down and noticed a suitcase he hadn't seen open.

"What's in this one?" He questioned, moving to open it. Shinobu lurched over as much as she could, putting a hand on the lid.

"I looked through it, just more clothes, nothing important." She said, blushing slightly. Then her eyes widened slightly and she opened the case, two clicks as the clasps opened, and slid her hand into the small gap, bringing out a knife.

"I almost forgot! It did have this in it." She said, smiling.

"You bought a knife?!" Keitaro asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Well... You never know when I might need to cook..." Shinobu trailed off, looking at the ground.

"It'll be useful now..." Keitaro began, "But if we'd come by plane I doubt you would've got past security with this." Keitaro finished.

Shinobu sighed inwardly; glad she had moved focus away from her suitcase. She had some lingerie in there she didn't want Keitaro to see. Well, until she was wearing it, her inner self noted, causing her to blush yet again. She handed Keitaro the knife carefully.

It was some time later in the clearing that Keitaro had found when it happened. He had been just finishing putting large palm leaves onto the roof of the structure he had made. It was a simple round structure, and only just stable (his first two attempts had collapsed, much to his dismay), but it was a decent cover from both rain and the harsh sunlight. Shinobu was sat underneath the leaves in the shade, sipping from a bottle of water they had refilled from the small lake. It was a distance away from their new camp, and Keitaro would have preferred to be closer, but making a clearing would have taken a lot of time and effort. He was glad he had listened to Seta when he had described how to set up a simple hut while talking about an archaeology expedition, otherwise it would have taken more than three goes to get it right.

Keitaro lay down under the shelter and wiped his forehead, wet with sweat. Shinobu leaned over gently, and poured some water from her bottle onto his brow. It was refreshing, and Keitaro smiled and closed his eyes, relaxing. Just at that moment there was a huge rustling sound, and a flock of bird emerged from the trees. Keitaro's eyes flicked open and he helped Shinobu get up and out from under the shelter for a better view. Thousands of tropical birds had taken flight in a majestic view of colourful feathers and noise. It was a breathtaking sight.

After the spectacle ended, Keitaro cut some wood and made a small fire, then went about trying to catch some food to eat. There were what appeared to be wild chicken-like birds, but unlike domesticated chickens, they appeared to be completely able to fly. This made Kietaro's attempt to capture one rather fruitless, while Shinobu watched with a certain level of amusement as he chased around, somewhat appropriately, like a headless chicken. When Keitaro fell over for the eighth time, he turned to see Shinobu laughing softly into her hand. Sighing and getting up, he realised that it was somewhat futile. It was at that moment he spotted a nest in a low tree. Climbing a small way up he found a number of large eggs. Picking out six, he climbed back down and cracked them onto the flattest rock he could find, before resting this on the fire. Shinobu looked on with interest and cleaned some more flat rocks to use as makeshift plates. The size of the rock limited them to cooking one at a time, much to Keitaro's dismay. They hadn't eaten anything other than fruit for some time now, and the smell was mouth-watering. Still, he insisted she ate first. 'She is ill, after all.' Said his conscience to his hunger as he had a small inner-battle. It was not a large meal by any means, but it was something other than fruit.

"Maybe I'd have better luck at fishing somehow..." Keitaro pondered aloud as they sat under their shelter. The sun was now directly overhead and scorching hot, so Shinobu has insisted they stay under cover. In truth, Keitaro doubted he'd do well trying to fish. He was starting to worry about whether, let alone when, they'd get rescued.

"Keitaro..." Shinobu said softly, "We are going to get back, aren't we?"

Keitaro opened his mouth to reassure her, and at that moment, memories hit him like a wall.

"**Am I still so much a child to you?**"... "You said to me that it would all be fine, and then, you go and confirm my doubts as your own to her?" ... "Can I not help you with your troubles, **am I that useless**?"

"I promise you, now, here, that from now on, I will always think of you as a woman."

Keitaro sighed, and put his head in his hand, rubbing his brow. He finally said "I'm sorry Shinobu, I just don't know..."

Shinobu looked at him. Not crying, not distraught, but understanding, supportive. Keitaro smiled at this. They were in this hopeless situation, and here she was, calming his fears.

"No, I'm wrong." He said, a realisation coming to him. "We'll get back: the others would never leave us. I trust them. They'll find us. You wait and see."

"Yeah..." Shinobu said with a smile. "They'll be looking for us now."

It was incredibly hot, and Keitaro decided a siesta was in order, relaxing back and falling asleep, holding Shinobu in his arms, who did the same thing, contented to wait for their friends with their love in their arms.

"God. We all worried so much, and they are just laying around sleeping."

Keitaro didn't open his eyes. He had been blinded last time... He tried to remember why.

"Ara! You should not say something like that."

The sun! It was low in the sky... Why could he see that... the island!

"Indeed Kitsune, restrain yourself."

...

Kitsune?

Keitaro's eyes flicked open and he sat up sharply, to find himself surrounded by his friends. Shinobu was waking up groggily in a way similar to him, before looking rather shocked herself.

"Ahh!" Screamed Mutsumi, as Keitaro suddenly moved.

"You are awake then." Motoko dryly observed, with a hint of a smile playing at the edge of her lips.

"Hey guys!" Su said, jumping onto Keitaro gleefully.

"How..." Keitaro began.

"We were searching, and saw your SOS message you created on the beach. Naturally, we came to look around." Motoko explained, pre-empting his question.

"You didn't think you were going to be here long, did you, I mean, in today's day and age?" Kitsune mocked.

"Not at all." Keitaro lied badly, scratching the back of his head.

There was a helicopter on the beach, and sunlight glared off the metal, blinding Keitaro temporarily. They all got on-board quickly, Keitaro and Shinobu relieved to be with their friends again. It hadn't been a long time, but it had been stressful in its own way. At the same time, Keitaro felt it wasn't actually all that bad an experience, in hindsight. Everyone got on quickly before closing the doors. It was tight with the number of people they had on board, and Keitaro was worried about the weight, but he presumed it must be OK. The pilot took off, plumes of sand erupting around the helicopter – if they had the doors open they would have been effectively sandblasted by now, which was not an experience Keitaro was particularly interested in having.

Once they were in the air, Su explained what had gone on.

"I had already sent out a distress signal when we went down." She said, somewhat matter-of-factly. "Another ship was in the area and picked us up off the life raft."

"Distress call? Didn't the captain say he noticed the huge explosion and thought someone had dropped a nuke, and so had come over to investigate?" Mutsumi questioned. Su waved a hand as if this was a negligible fact, before continuing.

"Anyway, we got back and started a search. Momol has a few islands where most stuff washes up, so we got this helicopter and checked them out. Your SOS was a pretty good sign."

"Well... I guess that's good." Keitaro said. He was starting to feel a little foolish. At the time, it had felt like they were risking their lives, desperately trying to survive on the island, but after Su's description, it was more like they'd popped out for a day trip.

"What happened on the island?" Motoko asked, looking back and forth between both Shinobu and Keitaro.

Keitaro considered what he'd say. "We washed up on an island, slept a bit, made a fire and shelter, and got drunk. And that's about it really." - Not really the epic tale of survival he feared the others were looking for, especially when the highlights were him chasing chickens and Shinobu being in the nude. The former was embarrassing for him, and the latter, well, that was for his mind only, in his opinion.

"Not too much." Keitaro admitted slowly. "We found some water and food, made a shelter as you saw, so it wasn't too bad."

"And here we were expecting wild stories battling beasts and drinking the last drops of your water, desperate..." Kitsune said: a genuine tone of disappointment was actually there, to Keitaro's surprise, expecting it as more a dry comment than an actual longing. I guess 'Not Much' didn't make for good gossip. Or blackmail, for that matter.

It didn't take long to get to Momol, the helicopter landing on the roof of an extremely fancy-looking hotel. Waiting near the pad was a cluster of dignitaries and bureaucrats who were obviously here to greet Su. Keitaro waited as she got out, and much to both his and Shinobu's surprise (Keitaro presumed the others had witnessed this before), she started greeting and talking to them all with a level of grace and formality. She carefully introduced everyone, and then excused them, citing Keitaro and Shinobu's situation as a reason. One man stepped forward. He was dressed smartly in a suit that looked very expensive, pressed as if it had been ironed only moments before. Su had introduced him as the manager of the hotel.

"We are so sorry to hear about your problems getting to Momol. It's good that you managed to make it."

"Ah, yes." Keitaro said clumsily, scratching the back of his head and laughing a little.

"And you have taken care of our own," he said, gesturing towards Su in a humble motion. "For so long. We are happy to give you all rooms to stay here for as long as you wish. All-inclusive, of course."

"That's very kind." Su said. "It's good to know that there are such compassionate people around."

"We strive for the best." The manager said.

Keitaro wondered how much this was bribery, but a free stay in a five star hotel? He was not going to pass that up.

Su was given a number of card keys before they moved off to their rooms. They entered the first one and everyone's (except Su's) jaws dropped. The room was huge, with a curved glass wall giving a panoramic view. There was a huge sofa with what must have been at least a 50-inch screen, and a partition wall which lead to a small kitchen/dining area, with expensive looking furniture and cooking equipment, then the room expanded even more to what can only be called a God-sized bed, with a door off to a gargantuan bathroom. The one room was bigger than most people's houses.

"They have given us six of these rooms?" Motoko asked, flabbergasted.

"Only five, I said Keitaro and Shinobu would share." Su said happily, ignoring everyone's reaction to this news.

"Ara, I think we could all sleep in that one bed. It's large enough!" Said Mutsumi.

Su jumped up and started jumping on the bed, which it seemed, was a pretty good trampoline. This was a stark contrast to her earlier formality. She threw the rest of the cards while jumping with surprising accuracy, everyone except Mutsumi (who got hit in the head by her card) catching their own.

Kitsune was the first to make a move.

"You should have gotten them to give this to us before we got Keitaro and Shinobu! I'm going to check out the mini-bar in my room!" She said happily, exiting with speed. Keitaro somewhat doubted, with the scale of everything else in this hotel, that it's be a **mini**-bar per-say, but he decided not to point that out. She had enough enthusiasm as it was. He took Shinobu by the hand, and went out with the others to inspect their respective rooms. It was pretty similar, which made sense. Albeit, the hotel appeared to have taken more meaning to sharing a room than Su apparently did, and small touches like a bottle of champaign laid out near the bed were abound.

"Well, I honestly didn't think we'd be here last night." Keitaro said with a little laugh. Shinbou agreed, still slightly awed for words. She quickly moved through to the kitchen, and read off a small sign.

"We will happily provide any food you wish, cooked for you. If you wish to cook for yourself, we will happily bring you anything you require as you ask. Please ring room service from any of the phones in your room and we will do our best to meet your wish." She read, sounding excited, and checking through the plethora of items in the kitchen.

It's like they saw her coming, Keitaro thought, relaxing in the sofa and turning on the TV, which he found out was actually a computer and a TV in one. He was flicking through channels (of which there were a huge number) when Su suddenly appeared on screen, larger-than-life. Keitaro almost jumped out of his skin.

"Hey Keitaro!" Su said cheerily, smiling innocently and the petrified man on the other side of the line. "Check out the video calls you can do!" She added in the others, Kitsune springing up, who looked only mildly surprised at seeing the others, and was already surrounded by a huge amount of alcohol. Mutsumi and Motko both looked on with a level of interest at the video call.

"Seeing as we are all in adjacent rooms, we could just meet up rather than do this." Keitaro pointed out.

"You are so boring, Keitaro!" Su said, pulling a face.

Keitaro sighed, resigning to not try and use logic when arguing with Su: it was never going to work.

After a short while, it was agreed everyone would all meet up and take a look at the facilities the hotel offered. It took a long time to look around the entire place, and it had everything. A gym, numerous pools, a huge restaurant, a Jacuzzi, and several saunas were just some of the ample facilities on offer. Keitaro decided that five star hotels were all about overkill. He dreaded to think what it would have cost them if they were paying. When he voiced this to Shinbou, she replied with:

"Well, I guess it's lucky we are not." With a happy grin adorning her face. Keitaro realised this trip was actually fulfilling it's purpose. Shinobu seemed a lot happier, and more relaxed.

The hotel was large, and everywhere was very clean and white. Everything seemed to have the hotel's name on it somewhere in posh lettering, in a way only 5-star hotels brand. It was a tall building, stretching up into the sky for some distance. The surrounding area was dense and built up, with a lot of shops, hotels and restaurants, none quite on the same scale though.

After spending so much time in hot springs at home, the group decided to try out the sauna, so wrapped in towels, they went in to relax in the steamy rooms. Keitaro was ejected, as usual, to his own room, which was a little lonely. But in truth, he was glad to relax.

In the girl's sauna, Shinobu was hit by a barrage of questions about what had happened. She quailed slightly as they hit her. She decided to follow Keitaro's example and not let much slip, much to everyone's (especially Kitsune's) disappointment. Kitsune sighed and poured a little more scented water on, creating a plume of extra steam. Everyone had been under stress and tension over the last few days, and it was a good time to unwind.

It was not long before everyone excused themselves to go sleep. It had been a long day and everyone was exhausted – not least Keitaro and Shinobu, who, although hardly believing it, had been stranded on an island at noon on the very same day. They stopped by Su's room to collect their suitcases that had been brought over from the island on a second helicopter. She said they had to send one to remove the SOS sign anyway to stop people from searching the island if they see the sign. This seemed like a very good argument, coming from Su, and Keitaro was glad to get his suitcase back. She had also asked the hotel to wash everything, so everything was clean. Getting up to their room was slightly difficult with the baggage (well, it was for Keitaro, who insisted on carrying everything), but they got there eventually. Shinobu got into the room and excused herself into the bathroom to get washed and changed for bed, taking two suitcases with her. This seemed more than was necessary to Keitaro, but he didn't question it, instead lying down on the massive bed, picking out some of his own sleepwear and getting changed quickly. He realised how tired he was, but resolved not to fall asleep until Shinobu came back.

Shinobu was showering in the bathroom, which, true to the hotel, was gargantuan. She was happy to have the warm water and soap. It didn't seem like long since she had been on the island. She turned off the water, and wrapped herself in one of the towels the hotel provided, literally. The towel was so large it wrapped around her about three times. It was heated to be nicely warm, and was amazingly soft. She sat down and opened the suitcases, one containing a nightdress she usually wore, and one containing rather exposing lingerie. Shinobu was all too uncertain of what to wear. Su had obviously set this up, and now they were safe... Shinobu flashed back to when they were on the island, admittedly rather drunk at the time, and rather naked. She blushed profusely, shaking her head, trying to clear her head. Her adult side was telling her to wear the lingerie, while her embarrassed side was saying to go with the nightdress; her sensible side was siding with the embarrassed side. Shinobu rather believed she had too many sides at this point, and it didn't help when she ended up with a traditional Angel – Devil conversation around her head.

"Come on! Live a little!" Her adult side, represented by a devil in her mind (with a rather Kitsune-like caricature), tried to convince her. "He'd not be able to resist you in that, and that's what you want, right?"

"You can't go out in that! You'd be virtually naked!" Her embarrassed side squeaked.

"Hey, if it were up to me, she'd go out in this towel and drop it after five seconds." Her adult side said with a grin.

"Don't be so silly. She should not move so fast, it's Keitaro. This is not one to rush on." Her sensible side said with a reprimanding tone.

Shinobu decided against it. She had plenty of time, and they were both exhausted. She closed the suitcases after pulling out the nightdress and put it on, wishing slightly she couldn't do it herself. She then walked out to see Keitaro lying on the bed, obviously almost asleep, but trying to stay awake. She smiled slightly at this.

"I-I'm coming in..." Shinobu said, looking at the ground and blushing.

"Ah, right..." Keitaro said, noncommittally.

Shinobu moved with some speed and slipped under the covers quickly. She could be miles away from Keitaro, as the bed was so large, but she moved closer to him. It was embarrassing, but she had slept a lot in his arms recently: why not follow that trend, she told herself.

Keitaro was slightly surprised by the rashness of her moving up to him, but he didn't mind at all. Sleeping with Shinobu in his arms was lovely for Keitaro. Waking up to see her face instantly made his day better before it had began. Wrapping his arms around her tightly, he fell asleep, and she soon followed.

Motoko sat on the bed in her room, attempting to meditate. It was not going all too well. Emptying her mind was all well and good, but it was incredibly hard to do when she knew Keitaro and Shinobu were getting into the same bed next door! She cursed Su for giving them the opportunity. She doubted they'd be doing... it, but maybe... Shinobu had become so much bolder lately... She broke her pose and chewed on one of her fingernails, a habit she didn't do except when she was extremely nervous about something. In a way, she knew Keitaro and Shinobu were official, but at the same time…

She screamed in her mind. This was going to drive her insane, and she'd never get any sleep. She was... Motoko had to admit it: she was jealous to an extreme. She would have given anything to be in that room, and not only that. She'd have given anything to be the one curled up in Keitaro's arms on that island. When she had seen that... The jealousy she had felt... She knew it was not right to be like this, and yet she could not help herself. Keitaro was just... Well, they had all missed out the first time around, and to do so now, when she had finally realised her own feelings, was highly depressing. And she had resigned herself to sitting on the sidelines watching. It was unbearable.

Mutsumi was surprisingly calm in comparison. Motoko had talked to her and she didn't seem worried, but Motoko wasn't so sure. Kitsune seemed to be drowning herself in the free alcohol, as one would expect, and Su was apparently just happy to have Shinobu happy, which was all well and good for _her_ and her simple attitude to life, which was all too naïve in Motoko's opinion. Motoko wasn't sure she could just sit down and watch all this happen. She lay down sharply and sighed into her pillow.

It was going to be a long night. Hopefully just for her, from her point of view.

In the meantime, Keitaro and Shinobu slept peacefully, recovering from the past few days, content to just hold each other.

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And that's this chapter. Hope you liked it. I tried to go slow down a little, but still progress the plot, and try to bring back some more detail, which some of you said was lacking. I hope I managed it.

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Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed this; we writers live for it :P


	15. Motoko

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Love Hina: Deserted

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I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment; constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the sun, so please help me out!

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Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here.

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Surprise! I'm not dead.

Once again, I let myself take far too long with this one. When I logged on to , the control panel design had changed. It's been that long. About 4 months, in fact.

Still, I have always said I will continue this, come hell or high water, and I intend fully to stick to that.

Hopefully you'll like this chapter. It's somewhat of a turning point, and probably marks the 1/3rd point for this story.

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ShinobuFan175:

I have seen Rumbling Hearts (Although I know it under the name Kimi Ga Nomozu Eien) – and I must admit, it was somewhat similar. You tend to draw from things you read and see, although it was never an intentional crossover or the like. I was never going to go down the serious long-term route with it though. And no, the boat crash was not taken from anything in particular.

Littlemario1:

Cheers for the praise. This chapter might have a few more mistakes than usual, as I decided to forgo my wonderful beta-reader, as I realised how long it's been since I put out a chapter. My apologies for that.

LeonOrcot:

Thanks. Enjoy the chapter.

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And, due to removing the first chapter (the old story), the comments for the last two chapters got merged, so sorry If I didnt' respond to a comment.

Chapter 15:

Motoko...

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Shinobu woke up slowly. It was not like her to wake up late, but she was used to an alarm and thin curtains that let light through. In the hotel the curtains were thick and heavy, and light could only give it a blinding halo where it crept around the edges. Then again, she reminded herself, after the past few days and her injury before that, she didn't need an excuse to sleep in a little. She slid out from Keitaro's arms, smiling warmly at him laying there, sound asleep. It was a dream come true. Careful not to make too much noise, she rummaged in her bag quickly, stretching to reach from the bed, and then slipped into hotel-branded slippers, embroidery discreetly showing their prestige. Shinobu took a second to indulge herself with a yawn and stretch, arching her back and rubbing her eyes softly. She padded over to the kitchen and looked for a kettle. It seemed the hotel had deemed this unnecessary, instead furnishing rooms with a boiling water tap. Shinobu raised an eyebrow and pressed it, a stream of what was obviously boiling water, judging from the steam, came out. She got a (hotel branded, _naturally_) mug, and pulled out the long stick-like packet of instant coffee she had acquired from her bag.

Shinobu had no doubts she could have ordered room service coffee in a second, and there was probably a coffee machine here somewhere, both of which would be perfected things, but she didn't go for either. Plucking the spoon from the cup, she dropped it into the sink. It had been hard work running the stationary company. She owned the business alone, and had a lot of work as she tried to run it. The staff were helpful, but Shinobu had still spent days sat at her desk, trying to get to grips with the company. At points she stayed awake for days on end, fuelled on such instant coffee. It had been hard, but it had helped her a lot. Before she had decided to run the company, she had not changed much. After finishing school she had left and tried to work and support herself, but she didn't have a direction. It had been so easy before, school work, cooking, and Keitaro, but then, suddenly, the real world outside was a lot harder. Fortunately, she found the job and the owner had been a kind old man. He often made jokes that he was far too nice in the cut-throat world of business, and Shinobu shouldn't make the same mistakes as him, while she cooked for him. He had died in his sleep, never mentioning his will to Shinobu. It had been a shock when he died, and an even bigger one when she found out he had left her the company. It had been a hard decision to run the business, but she had done it for a year and was now proud of it. She had grown up and had a place in the world.

The coffee reminded her of this. A small part of her longed to be back there, but at the same time, she wanted to spend every second she could with Keitaro, and the staff could handle the business just as well as she could, if not better.

Keitaro woke to the smell of coffee, he opened his eyes and looked around, not seeing Shinobu.

"Shinobu?" He asked with a yawn, scratching his head.

Shinobu's head popped around the small partition wall between the kitchen and the bedroom, smiling brightly. Keitaro smiled briefly before letting his head fall back onto his pillow, which gave way with a 'puff'.

"I still feel tired." Keitaro murmured, rubbing his hand down his face.

Shinobu stepped out towards him, coffee in hand, steaming slightly, chuckling slightly at him looking so bedraggled in the morning. She wore a simple nightdress which flowed down her body gently, giving away hints of her curves on her chest and waist, coming to a halt just above her knees. She slinked over slowly, planting a kiss on his startled face. Shinobu didn't even realise that she could be seductive when she walked, but her face did not betray her is she walked back to the kitchen. Internally, she was overjoyed with the results. Keitaro had looked pretty attentive. Maybe tonight she would wear something different, she mused, before allowing herself a small celebratory grin. Shinobu had always looked at Naru as the beautiful woman who Keitaro would want, and Shinobu was just the kid who would never be taken seriously. Now Naru was out of the picture, and Shinobu was the centre of Keitaro's thoughts.

Shinobu's self-esteem had never been higher. She quickly washed up, before moving back through to see Keitaro in the bathroom shaving. She took a second to consider showering while he was in there, but where it involved razor-blades, Shinobu was rather Keitaro was focussed on the job at hand.

It was a hot, bright day, and the group gathered outside the hotel, all donning large hats to protect their heads and necks from the harsh sunlight.

"To The Beach!" Su cried, laughing as she ran haphazardly down the road, looking back at the others and trying to hurry them along. Everyone else was a little more laid back in their attitude towards the trip, and were happy to walk along slowly, talking as they went. It wasn't too far to the beach, but the view was blocked by all of the buildings that almost competed for room in the narrow streets, jutting out randomly, but then, as they turned a corner, the view suddenly cleared, and the wide, sparkling blue ocean, hemmed by a brightly yellow sand peach was bought into view. The water lapped gently at the shore while children and adults alike played and relaxed, with fishing boats bobbing on the waves in the background.

"Shall we, ladies?" Keitaro asked, a grin coming to the corner of his mouth. Shinobu latched onto his arm and the whole group began walking down onto the beach, Su running circles around them all.

They found a spot which was in a nice position, and Keitaro stabbed a parasol into the ground, opening it up. Then repeated with another, which Kitsune immediately lay under.

"I burn easily." She said, winking at Keitaro.

Keitaro chuckled before laying down some towels and weighting down the corners with his assorted shoes.

He quickly stripped down to swimming trunks he'd been wearing underneath his clothes, looking around to see the girls also taking off the clothes that previously had been over their swimming costumes. He was tapped on the shoulder to see Mutsumi stood behind him holding a watermelon that Keitaro could only describe as of an ungodly scale, a large smile on her face.

The group sat together, eating watermelon while staying close to try and keep under the shade of the parasols. Migration started towards the sea, so Keitaro quickly finished his slice of watermelon before quickly walking down the sand and into the sea. It was a little cold to begin with, but he got used to it. Su was swimming around Shinobu, popping up to splash her with water, then ducking under the water before Shinobu could retaliate. Keitaro swum up behind Su, and when she popped up to attack Shinobu again Keitaro drenched her. Mutsumi lay floating in the water, managing to avoid the mayhem of battle somehow, while remaining rather close to the thick of it.

After a while, Keitaro and Shinobu admitted defeat to Su – her energy reserves, as always, were completely endless. It would have been an impossibility to beat her in a match of endurance. Keitaro laughed as Su celebrated, turning to see Motoko and Kitsune on the beach. It seemed a little odd for them not to be in the water, Keitaro waved at them, indicating they should join him in the water. Kitsune waved him off, looking far too comfortable as she was, while Motoko seemed to avoid eye contact. Keitaro frowned slightly, but his mind was taken off it when he got tackled by Su, falling face first and taking a mouthful of seawater, much to his displeasure.

"Su!" Shinobu cried, swimming over with speed. "That's dangerous, he wasn't even looking!"

Su grinned guiltily, diving underwater and behind Mutsumi.

"I'm fine." Keitaro said, coughing a little. "Just somewhat unexpected."

"It's Keitaro, of course he is!" Su crowed.

"Wait, where did Mutsumi go?" Keitaro asked, looking around.

"She was here a minute ago..." Su said, trailing off, "Oh, she's just over there."

"Over..." Keitaro began, following Su's gaze, "there?"

Mutsumi was floating happily, eyes closed, quite a far way out. Keitaro quickly started swimming towards her.

"Mutsumi!" he called, "You are floating out to sea!"

"Ara ara!" Mutsumi said, twisting around to face him, panicing slightly.

Keitaro quickly grabbed her and started pulling her back. Shinobu smiled as he got back. "Thank god you spotted her, Su!"

Su looked sheepishly proud, then swam towards the shallower water, and ran up the beach, getting a beachball, then jumping back into the water.

"Let's play!" She cried with a smile, and Keitaro, Shinobu and Mutsumi all laughed.

Kitsune laid down on the beach, letting the sun hit her.

"Why aren't you playing with them?" She asked, glancing at Motoko, who was sat under the other Parasol, legs drawn up to her chest, looking rather down.

"I'm a little old for _playing_." Motoko retorted. "Besides, you aren't either."

"That's because _I'm_ _sunbathing_." Kitsune pointed out. "You, on the other hand, are _moping_."

Motoko looked up, opening her mouth to deny Kitsune's statement, but then shut it again, looking down.

"Go any _enjoy yourself_." Kitsune said, winking.

Motoko got up and slowly walked towards the sea.

"Why do I have to be their surrogate mother?" Kitsune asked herself. "This makes me feel old." She huffed into her drink and laid back, relaxing into the heat of the sun.

Time went quickly at the beach, as the group enjoyed themselves, and all too soon it was time to return to the hotel. Motoko had founder herself having some fun during the day, but her mind had wandered during the day, a fact that didn't exscape Kitsune, who grabbed Motko's arm, dragging her into her room for a Kitsune-Cheer-Up-Session.

Motoko was sat in Kitsune's room, drinking. Motoko didn't drink often, but with Kitsune it was an informal rule. Besides, Motoko had needed to take her mind off of Keitaro. Well, that was the plan.

"Kitsune... If I want to take something, but I know I shouldn't..." Motoko began, looking guiltily into the bottom of her glass.

"If there is one thing I have learnt in this world, it's that if you want something, you should just take it." Kitsune said with a finger wagging in a direction that wasn't quite Motoko's "Don't be scared of not being morally right all of the time." Kitsune continued, taking a swig.

Motoko got up somewhat unsteadily, and then said "You are right... Take... just take him."

Kitsune didn't listen too carefully. "Of course I'm right." She waved off, refilling her glass as Motoko walked out.

"That girl is wound too tightly. I have like six pairs of slippers in my bag, nobody cares."

Shinobu called goodbye to Keitaro and stepped out into the corridor, quickly moving down to the entrance. She tipped her hat slightly to shield herself a little more and stepped out into the harsh sunlight. The hotel, stuck out in the landscape, the local area was not as upmarket as the hotel, and along a small, dusty dirt road swathes of people swarmed among stalls that lined the street. The loud noise gave the street a soundtrack of loud bartering and conversations on every topic imaginable, in a number of languages.

Motoko walked along the bright, clean hallway slightly unsteadily, breathing quickly. It was extremely quiet. She reached Keitaro's door and held up her hand to knock, but as she bought it forward she stopped as if it had struck an invisible wall in front of the door. What was she going to say? What was she going to do? This was crazy, she had said to herself before...

Shinobu looked at the produce at the small stall, a variety of fruit a colourful assault on her eyes. It was all local produce, and looked amazing. She walked over and picked up a kiwi fruit, probably the largest she had ever seen, the size she'd expect from an orange – any bigger and it would be mistaken for a coconut. She paid the stall owner and moved to an area where she could get at her bag. She rummaged around for a small spoon and knife she had bought along, remembering when she had been young.

"Shinobu, look at these." Said Shinobu's mother, smiling warmly. Putting a small plastic bag with the round, brown, furry fruit down in front of her daughter.

"These are kiwi fruit." She continued when Shinobu looked at them inquisitively. She took a knife from the draw and began carefully peeling the fruit. Shinobu watching on with keen interest. Shinobu's father walked in, hugging Shinobu from behind, who smiled happily. He looked on, however, with confusion.

"What on earth are you doing?" He asked his wife.

"Peeling it." She replied, uncertain as to what he thought was strange about this.

"You don't peel a Kiwi fruit!" He said, mock exasperation in his voice. "You cut the top off..." He said, miming the action to reinforce the point, "and eat it like an egg."

"Which way do you think is best?" Shinobu's mother asked Shinobu.

Shinobu's brow furrowed in thought for a second, before saying "Peeling it.".

"Women..." Her father said, shaking his head and laughing.

Shinobu put her spoonful of the pulpy, green fruit into her mouth. It had been a long time ago, and back then her family had been so happy.... She was bought back to the present by the Kiwi Fruit – it was delicious.

Was it crazy? Motoko knew that she had missed her chance. She knew that Shinobu had pitched her claim on Keitaro, and that even if she hadn't, Motoko had been the one who had beaten Keitaro daily, who had never trusted him. Shinobu had only ever loved him and cared for him, and now, she was continuing with that, but how could she accept that?

Shinobu smiled, now weighted down by a mass of fruit. She sat at a small table, sipping a drink and writing down recipe ideas for her newly acquired fruit. She wanted to look around more, but it would be sensible to drop the fruit off first. She stood up and began her walk back.

Motoko had opened her eyes to the world, seen that men were not all bad people, and yet, she had never felt the same way about any other man except Keitaro.

Motoko took a deep breath and knocked.

Keitaro came to the door, and looked slightly surprised, and, Motoko thought, maybe disappointed, to see her.

"Motoko? Come in..." He began, slightly puzzled, but with a smile, "What's up?"

Motoko looked down at her feet. Shuffling them nervously.

Keitaro frowned. It took a lot to trouble Motoko.

"Motoko? Are you all right?"

"I... ever since we met again, I've been..." Motoko trailed off. "You taught me so much! You taught me that my attitude was stupid, You helped me, you've been a friend. And I realised when we met again... No. I knew before that. I know all along that it was more than that. That you meant more than that."

"Motoko, what do you..."

Keitaro realised Motoko was close to him. So close he could see nothing but her beautiful face, staring into her green eyes.

Motoko swallowed.

Shinobu walked along the corridor happily, her trip successful. It wasn't often she was able to experiment like this. She got to the door and went to let herself in.

Motoko put a hand on Keitaro's back and lent in.

Their lips met and she closed her eyes.

Keitaro stood, frozen, eyes wide.

Shinobu opened the door and almost skipped in, turning to look for Keitaro.

Shinobu saw Motoko kissing Keitaro.

Her bag of fruit dropped from her hands with a thud, round fruit rolling slowly along the floor, a scrap of paper riddled with excited scribbles for a recipe slid to the floor.

Motoko heard the thud and spun, the kiss ending swiftly. She saw Shinobu stood, wide-eyed, staring directly at her.

Motoko's breath caught, and she stood, rooted to the floor.

"Shinobu..." she breathed, a soft whisper of a word that sounded loud in the contrasting silence of the room.

Motoko fell to her knees. "Shinobu! It wasn't Keitaro, It was me, I shamelessly forced myself onto him, I am to blame!" She cried at Shinobu's still blank face.

Shinobu did not stir, the sound of Motoko's sobs were the only thing audible for almost a minute, then Shinobu walked up to Motoko and, without looking at her, said simply: "I know that. I'm not Naru, and I'm not you. I don't expect that from Keitaro, I trust him. I love him."

Shinobu raised her hand and bought it down on Motoko's cheek, a sharp slap that almost echoed in the silent room. Motoko gasped slightly, tears welling at her eyes.

"I think he has been betrayed enough." Shinobu said with an amount of venom, she grabbed Motoko by the arm and pulled her out of the room. Motoko gave no resistance.

Shinobu shut the door and Motoko winced as it crashed shut, collapsing to the floor again as she cursed herself. Kitsune's head appeared down the corridor as she heard the noise, to see Motoko crying in the corridor. In a rare moment of shock her eyes opened wide as she ran down to her friend.

Shinobu stood looking at Keitaro, who looked back, shock still etched onto his face.

"Shinobu... I..." he began, running his hands through his hair with a pained expression on his face, "You can't just blame her, I just stood there, I..."

"No." Shinobu said, walking up to him and hugging him tightly, "No. It's not like that. Don't blame yourself for what isn't your fault."

"How do you..." Keitaro began, a scared look in his eyes.

"You were not kissing her back." Shinobu said simply, picturing the moment at which she had walked in.

"But..." Keitaro began, still unable to accept the brushing off. He was, however, cut off by a kiss Shinobu planted on him.

"What now then?" Keitaro asked, looking at Shinobu.

"I don't know." She replied, a troubled frown appearing on her forehead. "Motoko has been such a good friend, and I know exactly what it was like being in her position. I watched you and Naru for so long..." Shinobu trailed off, blushing slightly.

"People do make mistakes." Keitaro said, "and if you can forgive Motoko for this, then we can be the family we always used to be."

"I don't know if I can." Shinobu said, looking into his eyes, then down and burying her head into his chest.

Kitsune flopped onto her bed, exhausted. She had spent the last 10 minutes trying to stop Motoko (who was now sat dejectedly in the corner of the room, crying still) from killing herself. It was not a task she had enjoyed. She partly blamed herself, considering she had gotten Motoko to drink, and had encouraged her, but how would she know it would end up like this? She was expecting Motoko to steal soap, not a kiss!

Kitsune sighed and walked over to Motoko, rubbing her back gently.

"Don't worry so much. It'll smooth over, it was just a small kiss, and you were not in a good state of mind. I'm sure Shinobu will understand, and Keitaro probably won't have many complaints, I think." Kitsune sympathised, trying to lighten the mood a little.

Maybe the Cheer-Up-Session didn't go quite as well as she had hoped.

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I watched Lucky Star before I wrote the kiwi part, blame that for getting me onto how to eat a type of food. Be thankful I'm not advertising Haruhi.

On a side note, I wrote some of this chapter on an EeePC (Running Eeebuntu). Not a bad device. The keyboard does take some getting used to though, as it is rather small however, it feels pretty normal after a while.

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Please consider reviewing if you have read and enjoyed this; we writers live for it :P

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	16. What to do

Love Hina: Deserted

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I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment; constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the sun, so please help me out!

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Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here.

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It's nearly 2012, and the last time I updated was 2008, I think that says it all, and I can only apologise once again for not writing. Real life is, as always, getting the the way, so please excuse me for that. I've finally found some time to continue writing, and I'll try and update when I can – however insanely long it takes.

Not only has my ever-persistent (and ever-talented) proof-reader been bugging me about it, but so have a few readers, sending me messages. Cheers for the kick in the rear, guys.

However slowly it happens, the fic will come, so please keep following - if you can bear the wait. I know it's ridiculous.

Hell, it's now I realise that I started this seven years ago. _Seven__years_. I truly can't state how weird that is.

Again, if I do intend to never write more, I will say so; I won't leave you hanging. If I do leave you hanging, it just means I'm taking my time writing. It is my intention to finish this at some point.

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Chapter 16:

What to do...

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What to do.

As they returned, it was the question in everyone's mind.

Motoko had disappeared in the immediate aftermath, and although everyone was worried as to her whereabouts, they felt that if they acted upon their worry it would be a betrayal of Shinobu, who was not only a good friend to everyone, but currently the person supporting their life – putting them up in Hinata House, and in Keitaro's case, as more than just a friend. Even Su understood the extreme gravity of the situation and kept herself unusually quiet.

Lifeless was a word Keitaro never thought he would be able to describe Hinata House as. At one point, it might have seemed like a blissful idea, a quiet home. But as it was, the silence was painful, no one was happy, and everyone avoided coming into contact with everyone else. It had been a very short period of time and already it was a horrible situation for everyone.

Out of all of the residents still around, Kitsune was the one feeling the most weight over the issue. As the one who had 'advised' Motoko, she felt a shameful responsibility. It had never been her intention – but that didn't stop the guilt. She sat propped up against the wall, a thin blanket lazily draped over her, 'dealing with the problem'. She took another swig from the bottle and stared gloomily into the pile of clothes in the corner of the room.

Mutsumi was unsure of what to do. Her nature was always to try and help everyone, and she always tried to project an image of constant cheer to those around her. In this case, she couldn't help but feel getting involved would do more harm than good. It broke her heart to see those so dear to her in pain. It took her a lot of self-restraint to not interfere, and instead she busied herself on household tasks. Cleaning, cooking – the general tasks that normally fell to Shinobu, but were left undone. Mutsumi wasn't the best at them, but she did them to the best of her ability.

Keitaro, as the centre of it all, was at breaking point. He felt highly responsible despite everyone's assurances at his innocence with the affair. He hated seeing anyone upset, let alone Shinobu. It felt like it was a surprisingly long time since Keitaro had slept without Shinobu there beside him. It startled him how alone he felt without her, how much he missed her gentle presence. He hated Hinata House how it was, quiet and cold. It, for him, was a place of all memories, good and bad, but always, _always_ full of life and energy. The emptiness was unbearable.

Keitaro sat and ran his hands through his hair. His whole body ached for action, to do something, but he didn't know what.

"Ugh," he let out, unable to express his distaste for the situation well. He let his face fall roughly to his desk, laying his head sideways as he stared at the picture of the occupants of Hinata House that he had framed a long time ago. He picked up a phone and dialled Seta's number, letting the phone ring a few times until his mentor and friend picked up.

He explained the situation in full, and Seta listened quietly until he was done.

"I can't say it comes as a surprise, Keitaro." he said, with a long sigh. "You may not see it but all those girls have strong feelings for you. Motoko especially."

Keitaro winced; it was hardly a helpful comment.

"That said," Seta began quickly, pre-empting Keitaro's objections to his comments, "I think your answer is simple. You want everyone to be back to normal. For that to happen, you have to do something."

"You are right, as usual..." Keitaro said. He thanked Seta for his troubles.

"Not at all, it's pretty much my job at this point." Seta said, following up with a laugh, "Good luck." he added, with a more serious tone than Keitaro would have liked to hear.

Seta was right. Something had to be done.

He stood, and walked out towards Shinobu's room. Regardless of the final outcome, anything was better than staying like this. After only days he was already at breaking point.

He went to knock on the door, and his hand froze just before it hit. It was easy to tell himself that something had to be done, but actually doing it... He was scared of the outcome of actually going ahead with it.

He took a deep breath and knocked.

Shinobu opened the door quickly, peeking her head around the edge of the door warily, her hair falling sideways slightly as she did so. She saw Keitaro and she made a face Keitaro couldn't quite decipher – he hoped it was a generally good expression. She did, however, open the door to let him in. He felt this was, at the very least, a good sign.

"I'm sorry."

Keitaro had been expecting to be the one saying the words, and yet as he closed the door, he heard Shinobu saying them. He couldn't find any words before Shinobu continued, "I've caused everyone worry. Motoko has run away, you aren't talking to me, no one is talking to anyone... I've ruined it all." Shinobu said, looking around as she clearly held back tears.

"Shinobu..." Keitaro began, then simply stood up and moved over, embracing Shinobu as wholly as he could.

"None of this - none of it - is your fault."

He felt her start to cry into his shoulder and he pulled her tighter, stroking the back of her head. He felt her small body press against his and her grip tighten slightly on him too. He laid his face gently onto the top of her head and breathed in, smelling her hair. It was a familiar smell that made him feel instantly more at home.

Shinobu felt a great weight lifted as she was pulled into Keitaro's tight embrace. Throughout the entire time they had been back, she had been horribly scared that Keitaro thought she was a horrible person because of what she did to Motoko; that he loved Motoko over her; that she had lost all her friends in one fell swoop. The very fear had ensconced her in her own room, cutting her off from everyone. She buried her face into Keitaro's shoulder and cried.

"Shinobu, I love you." Keitaro began. It seemed like a good place to start. He continued, "We all just don't know what to do. After... After... We have all been unsure of what to do."

It wasn't much of a speech, but Keitaro couldn't put it any better.

Shinobu calmed herself, relaxing in Keitaro's strong embrace. She took a deep breath and made a decision.

"It's simple. We find Motoko." She said, looking up at Keitaro.

Keitaro raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"She is our close friend. I won't let this hurt us all. I know Motoko. She didn't do it with ill-intent, and she'll punish herself for this so harshly..." Shinobu said firmly.

"I fell in love with the most compassionate person in the world." Keitaro said, kissing Shinobu on the forehead. Shinobu blushed deeply as he said it then kissed him back, this time properly. This caught Keitaro off-guard, and he reeled slightly before accepting it.

"But no one else is allowed to kiss you..." she said sheepishly as she finished.

Keitaro looked into her eyes, relishing the opportunity to be close to her.

"I didn't realise how much spending a night in a bed without you would mess with me..." Keitaro mused as he stroked Shinobu's hair.

"I know, I could barely sleep." Shinobu admitted, blushing again.

Shinobu looked up at Keitaro, and with great regret, pulled herself away a little. "We should try to get everyone together."

Su, Mutsumi and Kitsune were all sitting in the lounge when Keitaro and Shinobu walked in. They turned to see the couple holding hands and smiling.

"Let's find Motoko." Keitaro said, quite simply.

Smiles lit up on the faces of the other residents. It was good to hear that normality had a chance again. However, it was obvious they were not going to find Motoko walking around. After the initial excitement, it was a sad realisation, but not completely unexpected. It had been a number of days since Motoko had gone missing, and so she must be staying somewhere.

The residents discussed possible places Motoko could be, and only one viable choice recurred in their conversation. Motoko's older sister, Tsuruko, was the one Motoko had always turned to in times of need before; it seemed likely she would visit her again at this time, especially given Tsuruko's experience in matters of love – something that had before divided the sisters may now have bought them together as Motoko sought advise in a desperate situation. As Keitaro considered what he himself had done in consulting Seta, it seemed likely.

It was not perfect, but it seemed the best solution, and so Keitaro and Shinobu decided to visit. It was not a long journey, but neither was Tsuruko particularly close to Hinata House. Keitaro stood at the entrance, wary. Tsuruko had never been the easiest person to get along with, and even though Keitaro didn't mind her as a person, he worried about the number of times she'd threatened him. He reasoned that that was some time ago, and everyone else was treating him differently these days.

Taking a breath, he squeezed Shinobu's hand a little and knocked. Tsuruko answered with such speed Keitaro wondered if she'd seen them approaching.

Tsuruko looked at Keitaro and Shinobu and gave a sad smile. Keitaro tried to gather meaning from this, and Tsuruko, sensing his analysing gaze, motioned for them to step inside, beginning to speak as they did so.

"Motoko has good friends." she stated simply, "She won't tell me what happened, but she made it quite clear she was upset with herself for hurting others – I know my sister, and I know she would not be so upset over anything small." For you to be here... It is a good thing."

Keitaro felt Shinobu squeeze his hand tightly. He looked over to see Shinobu wiping small tears from her face. He smiled softly. "Motoko is as much family to us as everyone else in that house." he began as he addressed Tsuruko, "We could never resent her for anything."

Tsuruko smiled dryly, "Was that a dig at me?" She held up her hand as Keitaro began to protest the meaning. "I'm joking, I know you didn't mean it that way."

Her face hardened a little as she continued, "In the past... I may not have been the best sister to Motoko I could have been. I only hope I can make up for that in times like these."

It was at this point Motoko walked in, eyes red from crying, holding a blanket around herself, hot drink in hand. She looked over to see Keitaro and Shinobu and took a step back, eyes welling up again. Shinobu stood up, walking over toward Motoko.

Motoko froze for a moment.

Then ran.

Keitaro sat dumbstruck as Shinobu gave chase. She tried to keep up with Motoko, but even upset and in a bad state, Motoko could easily outrun Shinobu.

"It's all right!" Shinobu shouted at Motoko's fleeing form, "How can I blame you?" she screamed as she stopped, worn out.

Motoko stumbled as she stopped suddenly, turning to face Shinobu, trying to be sure of what she heard. She took slow paces toward Shinobu, each step a small test to see Shinobu's reaction. She eventually reached the young girl and slumped down next to her, tears streaming down her own face. "I-... I'm so very sorry." Motoko began, looking into Shinobu's eyes, hoping to see that Shinobu could not hate her.

"How can I blame you?" Shinobu repeated, "I love him, Motoko." she stated, looking up at her friend, "I love him and I would have a hard time understanding someone who didn't love him. That you do... I understand that so perfectly I can't say it. I can forgive you for that."

Motoko looked down into her own hands and gave a laugh through her tears – she had been totally beaten. "And how could he not love you." She said, hugging Shinobu tightly. Two mugs appeared and Keitaro crouched down with two steaming teas, handing them to the girls. He hugged Motoko briefly then hugged Shinobu, kissing her on the top of the head.

It was bittersweet for Motoko – but she had kept her friends, and that was far more than she had expected a few hours ago. That had to be a win, she told herself as she sat on the cold ground with her tea and her friends.

When they got back to Hinata House, it was mainly a feeling of relief: the house settled, the atmosphere cleared, and the family was back together.

Motoko lay down in her room and gave thanks for the friends she had. She didn't know how she would deal with loving Keitaro when he loved Shinobu, but she would deal with it. She was a strong person. With that resolve, she fell into an actually restful sleep for the first time in days.

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Sorry it isn't all that long, but it seemed right for the content. Hopefully I'll put up another chapter some time soon.

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Please consider reviewing if you have read this. We live for it.


	17. Peace and quiet

Love Hina: Deserted

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I hope you enjoy this FanFic. If you do, please comment; constructive criticism is also welcome. All writers have egos the size of the sun, so please help me out!

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Oh, and Insert Disclaimer Here.

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So, on the upside, it's only been about 6 months. Big improvement over last time. As I've always said, I intend to finish this, even if it takes a really long time, and if I have to leave it unfinished, I will write up a note and let you know, not just abandon it silently (but there are no plans to do that). I'm still amazed at the number of hits I get for this story. Remember to review if you want to spur me on to write more – often the reason I remember to get some writing in is getting a message about a review.

Anyway, this is a bit of a turning point, we are hitting the beginning of the second main story arc (the first, named Motoko, ended at 15). My current plan for the story runs it in at 3 main arcs, which would put this up to 45 chapters, 120,000 words, and 21 years if we presumed I went at the same rate as the first arc – I guarantee you that won't be the case XD. The two coming arcs will probably be shorter and hopefully will be produced at a better rate.

I'm also going to aim for more consistent chapter sizes. My chapters started bloating a bit around the end of the last arc ("On the Island" was ~5k words), and I'm going to be aiming for something close to ~2k words a chapter in the future.

In any case, here is the latest chapter. I hope you enjoy it and, as always, I'm sorry for the wait.

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Chapter 17:

Peace and quiet...

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Hinata House was quiet, or rather, as quiet as it ever got. The place was alive, and not just during the day when the residents caused constant mayhem. The whole building had a constant background noise as the people inside moved slightly and the building settled. The whole building glowed with stray light creeping under doors and through cracks. It never became truly quiet or dark, but Keitaro found this oddly comforting - it was impossible to feel truly alone in such an environment.

Keitaro and Shinobu were leaning on each other on the sofa, covered by a blanket, lazily watching TV. Keitaro realised that he wasn't actually watching the TV any more – he was simply avoiding leaving the warmth and comfort of the sofa and Shinobu. It struck Keitaro that it had been a very long time since he had truly had nothing to do. Since Shinobu had taken him from the streets, he had been so busy – not with important things, but with little things that managed to make his time evaporate. His life bared no resemblance to how it was when he was homeless. The contrast shocked him – it had been some time since he had thought about it. Holding Shinobu in his arms as he currently was, her small frame tightly pressed against his own, it was easy to forget that she was not only supporting him, but everyone else in the house. It was an odd thought, and he felt bad taking her money and living without paying rent – but at the same time, he was amazed at Shinbou's ability to do so much and yet still remain the kind, loving person she had always been. It was an amazing thing to behold.

Keitaro gently squeezed Shinbou and she looked up at him. "Let's get to sleep." Keitaro said simply, lifting the blanket and letting the cold air stir them both from the comfort of the sofa. Flicking the TV off, they walked through the dim light of the house. Shinobu quickly got changed in her room then crossed back to Keitaro's, slipping into bed next to him.

Shinobu was not a little girl anymore in a great number of ways. She had been through a lot – her work at the business, her accident, the island. She was older – and not just in years. She had truly matured in a way Keitaro had to admit he hadn't. While his time as a homeless man without anyone to turn to had been hard and he squarely put the blame for that hardship on Naru, he had also come to look at himself differently. Keitaro was a good person at heart and, while he had his academic shortcomings, he was not stupid – but he had not been able to do anything. Keitaro had, until then, had a relatively easy life – full of problems, but problems that, in the big picture, were very small. Upon coming face to face with an issue as big as he had, he crumbled. While it would have been hard, he had to admit to himself that he could have avoided homelessness if he had put in the effort. At the time, he simply didn't have the willpower to do so.

Keitaro in part expected to feel bad. He had, as most men do, always thought of himself as the protector of his girl – the classic image of man. Even surrounded by the strong women that made up the residents, he still thought he would feel small when admitting that Shinobu was a stronger person than him, but in the end the reality was Shinobu was the person he respected most in the world; to be inferior to her was something he could handle.

Shinobu stared into Keitaro's eyes as they peered back at her. It was an odd thing to be so comfortable with one person that you can just soak up their very existence and not feel even the slightest hesitation or embarrassment. Keitaro kissed her lightly and closed his eyes.

Shinobu followed suit, slightly disappointed. Shinobu and Keitaro had been sleeping together for some time but, while she loved the closeness they had, she wanted more.

She blushed to herself in the dark as she thought it, but she held her resolve. Shinobu had grown in a great many ways and she knew what she wanted. She truly and completely loved Keitaro and she knew with complete certainty that he felt the same way. She just didn't know why they hadn't moved on. They had been sleeping together for so long that she didn't know how to show Keitaro she wanted them to _sleep_ together.

Motoko decided to take a walk in the morning. Normally she would just train, meditate, or something similar, but she needed something to move her mind from the thoughts it clung to. Motoko had to find a way to deal with Keitaro and Shinobu. She loved them both as close friends and never wanted to jeopardise that again. She continued her introspection as she walked further into town and then paused, realising she was doing the very thing she'd taken a walk to get a break from.

Sighing, she looked around to see where she was, having walked aimlessly. She found herself in a small area of shops and picked one at random, walking over to see what was on offer. Halfway there, her attention was caught by Mutsumi, who was stood by another shop, talking to a man Motoko didn't know.

Motoko didn't really know how to react – she moved aside and tried to make herself less noticeable. _Hiding_ would have been a strong term, but she didn't want to be seen and disturb Mutsumi's... "Date?" Motoko asked herself silently. They definitely looked like something was going on; nothing obvious, but just the way they interacted seemed closer than just friends. While Motoko couldn't deny she was interested, she didn't want to follow them around, so she quickly headed off the other way, happy at least for a little distraction and something else to think about.

As Motoko returned, she felt pathetic. Here Mutsumi was finding a man of her own, while Motoko herself had been chasing after a man who was already involved. It was a harsh realisation, and Motoko hated herself for it.

Motoko found herself at Kitsune's door. Kitsune opened it before Motoko had asked to be let in, and Motoko walked in and sat down. Kitsune raised an eyebrow.

"You do remember what happened the last time you asked me for advice?" Kitsune pointed out, half-jokingly.

Motoko winced slightly, ignoring the comment. "I just saw Mutsumi with a man in town; I think they were on a date." she stated simply.

"And here was me thinking we'd never get you gossiping." said Kitsune with an interested smile, pouring herself a drink.

"It's not like that!" objected Motoko, "It's just... I don't even know any men besides Keitaro, and here is Mutsumi dating, Keitaro and Shinobu have each other... I just..." she trailed off.

"Great, so it's just you and me, the sad old drunk and the mistress, eh?" Kitsune said before cutting Motoko off before she could deny the implication, "I know you didn't mean it like that."

"We have all spent time away. Shinobu did a lot in that time, and apparently Mutsumi did enough to meet a guy." Kitsune pointed out, looking thoughtful as she mentioned Mutsumi's new man. "Without school and Hinata House your life consisted of meditation and practising swordsmanship without any men around, am I right?"

Motoko looked down at the floor and realised that it was a valid point – how was she meant to have a life, to know people when she didn't do anything that allowed her to meet people.

"You are right." Motoko said. "I don't have a social life."

Kitsune shrugged a little. "Pretty much, but it's not the end of the world; it's just something to work on."

Motoko stood up and left, thanking Kitsune as she went.

Kitsune looked down at her drink and relaxed a little more, hoping she hadn't unintentionally created a monster again, but she reassured herself that this was probably the right direction for Motoko. Probably.

Shinobu sat in Su's room, looking around at the vast array of wild inventions and wildlife that surrounded her as she waited for the younger girl to come out. Su had always been quick to greet people enthusiastically, but as she had grown older, she had generated a little more ability to focus on a task and consequentially often became wrapped up in ever-more-impressive engineering projects.

Su appeared and quickly came over to greet her. Shinobu had always been a close friend to Su, and the same was true in reverse. It had partly just been their similar ages in the house, but also that Su's enthusiasm and wild behaviour worked well with Shinobu's more sensible outlook on life – together they came to a middle ground where they could have a lot of fun without going too far. Most of the time. As they say, opposites attract.

Shinobu sat and looked at her feet while Su chatted without any real topic. Shinobu's inability to get to the point annoyed her, making her feel more like her younger self again. She was unable to speak even though she knew exactly what she wanted to talk about. That pushed her to look up; she was older now and wasn't about to be as timid as she once was. Su finished her sentence, cocking her head slightly as she realised Shinobu wanted to say something.

"I want to sleep with Keitaro." Shinobu said, looking away slightly as she said it, blushing. Su laughed a little and looked confused.

"But you two both sleep in his room." she said, "I just presumed you guys already..." she trailed off.

"Not yet." Shinobu admitted. "We just... we just never have." And after a small pause, she added, "I do want to, though." with a small blush.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, which Su broke with a short laugh. "Well, I don't really see it being a problem." she said with a devilish smile, glancing down at Shinobu's body as she said it.

Shinobu waved off the compliment, "I didn't mean like that... just... I don't know how to... start." she ended, trying to get Su to see her problem, "I get what to do, just not how to... show him I want to." she clarified, before Su could jump in with another smart comment.

Su laughed again and shrugged. "Well, what do you do normally when you go to bed?" she asked.

Shinobu stalled for a second. It felt odd to her to talk about her and Keitaro's routine. While she wasn't embarrassed exactly, it was intensely personal. That said, it was Su, and Shinobu didn't feel a need to keep secrets from her, so she slowly explained. As she did, she noticed Su had an odd look – one Shinobu hadn't seen in her before, but it was definitely a look of longing. While Su had never made any note of wanting a relationship, Shinobu realised it was almost a universal want for most people, and Su, like her, had matured over time.

When she finished, Su contemplated for a second, then simply said: "I think your answer is just to get naked." Without a hint of humour in her tone, she clarified, "In front of him."

While it was hardly the answer Shinobu was looking for to allow her to subtly advance on Keitaro, she couldn't argue the strategy for effect. Su had always been a fan of going in all-guns-blazing in all situations, so Shinbou told herself she should hardly have been surprised. Either way, they laughed and continued to chat idly for some time.

Shinobu eventually left to begin preparing dinner and, while she cooked, she tried not to focus too much on today's events – whatever happened, she knew there was no need to rush with Keitaro and herself. Patience, as they say, is a virtue.

Keitaro looked through job adverts, trying to find something he could do. It felt hopeless. His area of expertise – archaeology – was not exactly an easy field to get work in, especially when he really didn't want to leave Hinata House. There just wasn't anything in the local area. Even if there was, he doubted he had much chance with a giant black hole in his employment history – homelessness was not something employers liked to hear about.

Keitaro lay back and rubbed his temples with frustration. Manual labour was not what he had in mind when he thought about a job, but it looked like it might come to that. He didn't want to remain this jobless man, leeching off of the girl he loved. More than that, he wanted to have that feeling of being productive again. As much as he enjoyed being able to spend time doing things he loved and being with his friends, Keitaro wanted actual work to do.

Keitaro sat back up to see his door opening as Shinobu made her way into his room. He quickly hid the evidence of his job hunting, resigning himself to dealing with it later. The prospect of spending some time with Shinobu was a pleasant relief from it all.

He sat back and smiled as Shinobu began to speak to him, happy to relax.

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Hope you enjoyed it. Please review if you have any comments at all.


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